That “fauji votes” playing a big role in Uttarakhand is no secret. Forming nearly 12% of the total electorate in the hill State, retired and serving army personnel and their family members decide the fate of candidates across the State, more so in around 34 constituencies in the hilly region.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to have the advantage when it comes to nationalism, the Congress’ efforts to build strong narratives involving defense personnel include placing pictures of the late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Bipin Rawat, and martyrs, in its election offices.
While both the BJP and the Congress have separate cells for army personnel, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has projected Colonel (retd.) Ajay Kothiyal as its chief ministerial face.
The BJP has been highlighting three main points. First, the OROP (One Rank One Pension) scheme to benefit retired and serving defence personnel; second, appointing late General Bipin Rawat as India’s first CDS from Uttarakhand’s Pauri district; and third, surgical strikes. Moreover, Ajay Bhatt, BJP MP from the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat, is Minister of State for Defence at the Centre.
“We remain in touch with serving and retired army personnel through our ‘Sainik Prakoshtha’, which is active even at the block level. Uttarakhand sees the retirement of around 25,000 army personnel every year. After returning to their native places, they also get registered with the offices of the ‘Zila Sainik Kalyan Officer’ (District Army Welfare Officer) in the districts concerned. Our party workers approach them to understand the problems they may face,” said Colonel (retd) C.M. Nautiyal, who heads the State BJP’s ‘Sainik Prakostha’ in Dehradun.
According to Mr. Nautiyal, the BJP is in favour of providing the Control Store Department facility in mobile vans to retired army personnel at the block level across the State.
In November, the BJP announced the building, in Dehradun, of the “Sainya Dham” in the memory of martyrs. Through the “Shaheed Samman Yatra”, party leaders collected soil from the houses of around 1,734 martyrs in the State, to be used in the construction of the “Sainya Dham”. While laying its foundation stone on December 15, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the gate to the monument would be named after the late General Bipin Rawat.
The Congress is not lagging in wooing fauji voters in the State. The party organised a “Sainik Samman Rally”, attended by Rahul Gandhi, on the very next day — December 16 — in Dehradun. The Congress was also quick to undertake a “Veer Gram Parikrama Yatra”, originating from the native village of late General Bipin Rawat, soon after his death.
Recently, former CM and Congress leader Harish Rawat appealed to party workers in a Facebook post to put up pictures of the late CDS, General Rawat; General (retd) B.C. Joshi, and martyrs from the State, in the party’s election offices, calling them the “pride of Uttarakhand”. In its poll manifesto, the party promises to form an ex-servicemen’s welfare council if it comes to power.
General secretary, organisation, of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Mathura Dutt Joshi, claimed it was the Congress party that had implemented the OROP scheme.
“Congress has done a lot for the welfare of serving and retired army personnel in the State. The Uttarakhand Purva-sainik Nigam Limited (UPNL), which provides services to ex-servicemen, ex-paramilitary personnel, and to their dependents, was set up under the Congress rule in the State,” Mr. Joshi told this reporter.
According to him, the Congress has also given tickets to three leaders — Surendra Singh Negi (Kotdwar), Ranjeet Rawat (Salt) and Jot Singh Bisht (Dhanaulti) — who have retired from the army and the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF).
The AAP’s Mr. Kothiyal is known for his contribution to the reconstruction of the area around Kedarnath in the aftermath of 2013 flash floods. He is associated with an organisation called the Youth Foundation, which helps youths of the hill areas prepare to join the Indian Army and the CPMF.
The AAP has promised an ex-gratia payment of ₹1 crore to families of persons who die in the line of duty on the border or in any operation as a “Samman Rashi” (honour amount) if the party comes to power in the State.
The total number of voters in service in the State are 93,964, and ex-military personnel and their family members constitute a major vote block of around 10-12 lakh voters.
Retired and serving army personnel have their own lists of demands. Capt. (retd.) Tejpal Singh Negi from Uttarkashi said that almost every fourth family has one person in the armed forces in Uttarakhand and thus, “fauji votes” will always be a decisive factor.
“There is only one army canteen in our area, where the shortage of goods is a common thing. We need an army-dedicated hospital in each district because we can’t travel to the military hospital in Dehradun for minor problems.” Mr. Negi said.
According to him, earlier, there was a provision for providing jobs only to ex-servicemen and their dependents through the Uttarakhand Purvsainik Kalyan Limited (UPNL), which recruits ex-servicemen and their dependents to various State Government Departments. “The government has even allowed civilians to apply in UPNL during the pandemic,” he claimed.
Lieutenant-General (retd.) Gambhir Singh Negi said the UPNL has almost become a profit-making organisation. It was meant to serve only ex-army men in the past. “Political parties use us for bagging votes only. They never give us representation in society and politics,” he said.
