BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that in a democracy, responsibility often comes to people who are not in a position to handle it. In a video that has gone viral on social media, Rawat, while replying to a question on the Joshimath landslide crisis, is said to have said that “the burden rests on everyone in a democracy, some of them are wise, some less wise and some less and less wise”.
Trivendra Singh Rawat said “It’s the irony and even the beauty of democracy that people elect their representatives in this system. So sometimes the burden or responsibility falls on people who can’t handle it. That leads to problems”.
849 houses in Joshimath developed cracks after the landslide and 258 families were shifted to temporary relief centres.
Rawat resigned as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand in March 2021 and was succeeded by Tirath Singh Rawat, who also quit within four months, handing over the baton to incumbent Pushkar Singh Dhami. On the dismantling of district development authorities, which were set up during his tenure as chief minister, the BJP leader said they were created keeping in mind the high seismic vulnerability of Uttarakhand.
Trivendra Singh Rawat said “They (DDAs) were created so that infrastructure and development projects could be carried out in a planned manner, adding that the thought of their dismantling hurts”.
