Opinion

Hope prompts Congress to stay united in Uttarakhand; but will it?

Congress wants to reap gains in Uttarakhand; looks to keep bickering out and fight together

Uttarakhand is a hope the Congress party nurses. When the state goes to the polls to elect its government, the grand old party would look to reap handsome gains. That explains why the Congress party is keen on keeping its front united, at least till the polls get over.

In-party bickering isn’t a new thing in the affairs of the Congress party. This is true everywhere, in every state of India where the Congress party has a presence. Things haven’t been different in Uttarakhand too.

The latest we saw in the Congress camp at Uttarakhand are the tweeted statements that former Chief Minister Harish Rawat made. And, they were loaded with displeasure and were against how he was being treated by the party top brass.

Bickering out, Congress wants to fight united

Rawat, who is a Gandhi loyalist, had tweeted against the non-cooperation from the party’s Uttarakhand unit. He had even gone to the extent of suggesting that it was time for him to rest.

Harish Rawat, who had been instrumental is seeking a ceasefire between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu when the Punjab Congress crisis threatened to blow over, had found himself at the receiving end all of a sudden. He even called upon Lord Kedarnath to provide him some respite and margdarshan. His tweets meant that all wasn’t well with the Congress in poll-bound Uttarakhand.

But then, the Congress seems to have successfully swung into action to quell the fire. It looks like Rawat has been taken into confidence and that is evident from the fact that the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister happily launched the election campaign song in New Delhi.  The song that begins with “Teen Tigada Kaam Bigada Uttrakhand mein nahi aayegi ab Bhajpa dobara” sends out a warning message to the BJP that its roots are set to be uprooted in Uttarakhand. It is evident that the party is looking to score some good gains in the upcoming Assembly elections by putting aside all differences from within and stay united.

The party’s announcement that “people would be the face of the party for the upcoming elections” needs to be seen as a strategy to keep the fighting bunch of Congress leaders together and put up a strong united force.

Keeping the Uttarakhand Congress party united

Rawat is in charge of the party’s poll campaign mechanism and he urged the people to stay by the Congress to uproot the failed BJP line up in the state. The party has managed to bring together senior leaders of the likes of Harish Rawat, AICC state in-charge Devendra Yadav, state unit president Ganesh Godiyal and veteran leader Pritam Singh, who have decided to unleash a strong attack on the BJP government.

The party has a strong case against the BJP this time around as the ruling party had shuffled Chief Ministers in five years, with Trivendra Singh Rawat, Tirath Singh Rawat and Pushkar Singh Dhami ascending to the Chief Minister’s seat in quick succession.

Party leader and former chief Rahul Gandhi’s efforts to placate Rawat indeed succeeded. That is the signal the scenario in the Congress camp sends out to the party functionaries.

Elections are just round the bend, and it has become imperative for the party to garner gains. To win back power is a tough task, but a united front can do wonders. Harish Rawat and the other Congress contenders would look to do that. Adding to their joy, Anant Chauhan, working president of AAP, Uttarkashi’s sitting zilla panchayat head Deepak Gujran and former BJP MLA Mal Chand switched allegiance to move over to the Congress fold. Hopes are indeed riding high.

However, maintaining a united face is what the Congress may not be so sure of. The party top leadership would hope to see the Congress party sail through without any more bickering.  

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »
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