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1.: Split in U'khandi Association in America, Khanduri may face u From: rajugusain@yahoo.co.in

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1.: Split in U'khandi Association in America, Khanduri may face u

Posted by: "rajugusain@yahoo.co.in" rajugusain@yahoo.co.in rajugusain

Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:19 am (PDT)

By Our Staff Reporter
http://www.garhwalpost.com/centrenewsdetail.aspx?id=4002;&nt=Uttarakhand
Dehradun, 21 June: Chief Minister BC Khanduri is likely to face some ugly scenes during his US visit due to a split in the Uttarakhand Association of North America (UANA). The New England-Boston Chapter has invited the Uttarakhand CM for its annual convention at Harvard University. Khanduri has accepted the invitation and will address highlanders on 19 July.
The other faction led by Dr Jagdish Bhandari, which has recently taken control of UANA's resources, will host the General Body Meeting on 28 June in Virginia to elect the new office bearers. It has also scheduled another convention the following week in Poughkeepsie, New York. Deepak Nautiyal and Pushp Kumar, the immediate past president and vice-president, are heading one section, and Dr Jagdish Bhandari, the other. Claiming that the New York meet is the official convention despite last year's agreement for New England-Boston and a year of preparation by the Boston organizing committee, the Bhandari faction now claims to be shocked about the CM's visit to Harvard.
The differences between the two sections broke into the open last year when Deepak Nautiyal led efforts to successfully conduct the tour of renowned folk singer Narendra Negi, Shekhar Pathak and Poet 'Girda' Girish Tiwari in the US. Negi performed at the UANA annual convention in New Jersey to a record audience. Nautiyal and the convention organising committee made the tour possible through personal funds and logistics. However, the other group alleges, "For the last two years, under the leadership of the immediate past president (Nautiyal), UANA articles of incorporation have been violated."
They charge Nautiyal of taking decisions on his own without consulting the office bearers. Bhandari claims in an e-mail communication that these undemocratic, unilateral, and partisan practices were seriously eclipsing the incredible hard work of our volunteers. Last year (2007), these undemocratic practices resulted in outrage and two appeals from almost 30% of respectable UANA and Uttarakhand community members from two big Uttarakhandi communities, namely the Tristate (NJ, PA, and NY; NJ Official Petition) and the greater Washington DC and Virginia (the home of the Organization; DC Official Petition). In these appeals, UANA and Uttarakhand community members asked for the resignation of the President.
However, the president, vice-president, three directors of the board, and the patron of the association, Dr Prabhu Negi, see the moves by the Bhandari faction, disgruntled members of the NJ-PA-NY tristate and DC chapters, as precipitous and wholly unconstitutional. Indeed, many in the controlling majority on the board have themselves never been elected - such as Bhandari, himself, but were recruited for the expresse purpose of calming the developing fissures in the association that predated the convention, and were wholly based on family frictions in the tristate area. Never would the elders have thought that instead of harmony, the new unelected recruits would exacerbate divisions, expel the president and vice-president, usurp the convention from the Boston chapter, and manoeuvre to ramp up their personal vendetta against Nautiyal and anyone associated with him.
The term of the Uttaranchal Association of North America office bearers is of two years. The last election took place in 2006. The poll is due this year at the annual convention. Deepak Nautiyal, after facing criticism due to the Negi tour and the campaign against him, expressed he would not contest any future position of UANA. However, at a recent meeting of the Bhandari-led faction, both Nautiyal and vice-president Pushp Kumar, a stalwart of the Boston community and coordinator of the Boston convention, were expelled before the end of their term. Now, the Uttaranchal Association of North America goes to the polls on 28 June at Compton Village Homeowners Association where members from all over the US will have to be physically present to cast a vote, thus constraining the ability of anyone who would have to travel from afar to participate in the election. The Bhandari-led faction claims to have the majority, although the actual status of membership
rolls itself been clouded in controversy, giving rise to accusations of vote rigging.
In the meanwhile, the New England-Boston chapter has invited Chief Minister BC Khanduri for the annual convention at Harvard. The other group is threatening to take legal action against the Nautiyal led faction. The president and vice-present themselves had already prepared a legal brief last year contesting what they see as a coup by the largely unelected board of directors and their use of factional disputes to break the association.
A release from the Bhandari group states, "We had announced general elections, which are set to take place on 28 June, to elect the new President and all new UANA Board of Directors. This was communicated to all the UANA members more than a month in advance of the election date. Going forward, we will also be taking legal action to ensure illegitimate usage of UANA does not continue by the former UANA."
Nautiyal is facing fire from this gang up against him and has withstood to date the enormous mental ordeal. He was accused of having turned down their request to felicitate Narendra Negi in Chicago last year, although convention organisers say that the disgruntled members themselves refused to attend the convention or even help organise or fund the tour. The differences between the two groups have grown to the point where a permanent split in the community is inevitable. Chief Minister BC Khanduri will be taking his first steps in North America with this quagmire ahead of him and the programme is likely to witness some ugly scenes.

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