The decision of the Uttarakhand Government to reserve half the seats in the three-tier Panchayati Raj institutions for women has been dictated by political compulsions. With civic and panchayat elections due next month and Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year, the ruling BJP took the decision to win over nearly half the state’s population.

BJP leaders believe the decision will help regain the crucial support of women before local elections and consolidate the position of the party at the village level. Women outnumber men in eight districts of the state.

Chief Minister Major General B C Khanduri (retd) got the relevant Panchayati Raj Act amended in the Budget session, close on the heels of a slender win for the ruling party in the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha bypoll.

Khanduri, who had represented the seat himself since 1991 polls except in 1996 Lok Sabha elections, must be a worried man despite getting Lt Gen T P S Rawat (retd) elected in the bypoll. The narrow win, thanks to postal ballots, speaks volumes about the fading popularity of the BJP Government. In the bypoll, the ruling BJP lost to the Congress in Dehradun, Rudraprayag and Chamoli. It was only in Khanduri’s home district that the party managed a slender lead.

The electoral performance of the BJP a year after it took power has made the party bigwigs anxious. It is a wake up call for the CM, since he had been riding the crest of popularity after making the Congress bite the dust in the 2007 Assembly polls. Khanduri led the party to victory in the Kashipur Assembly seat and got himself elected by a massive margin in the Dhumakot bypoll.

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