When Uttarakhand came into existence as a separate state in the year 2000, there was confusion regarding the selection of the first Chief Minister of the state. There was a discussion in political circles whether the Chief Minister should be from Garhwali or Kumaon. But the name of veteran leader of Jan Sangh and friend of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, Nityanand Swami came up.
For 72-year-old Nityananda Swami, this was the moment his maternal grandfather had predicted at the time of his birth. He had said, “This boy will become a king one day.” And finally on 9 November 2000, the day came when Nityanand Swami became the first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. However, after becoming the Chief Minister, Nityanand Swami had to face opposition in his own party. Several senior BJP leaders like Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Narayan Ramdas did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.
A major argument of his opponents was how could the Chief Minister of a hill state be a non-hill. The matter escalated so much that in April 2001, the State Information and Public Relations Department had to issue a press release in which it was told that Nityanand Swami’s family has been living in Dehradun for the last hundred years.
Swamy himself responded to this criticism by saying, “Everyone in Uttarakhand has come from outside. The only difference is that some came four hundred years ago and some came a hundred years ago. My father came from Dehradun in 1922. If leaders like Govind Ballabh Pant and ND Tiwari can become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh despite being field workers, then why this question for me?”
Nityananda Swami’s tenure was only 11 months and 20 days. The party which made him the Chief Minister decided to remove him from the post even before the completion of his tenure. Some such decisions were also taken during his tenure which are appreciated even today. The most prominent among these was the change in excise policy. Swamy freed the liquor trade from the clutches of mafias and made it a source of income for corporations and local people.
Nityananda Swami will always be remembered for his simple life. Despite holding the post of Chief Minister, he never chose to live in a big government bungalow or building. Nityanand Swami’s journey as Chief Minister may have been short, but he left a special mark on the politics and administration of Uttarakhand, which is remembered even today.
