After nominating the bete noire of Punjab chief minister Captain Amrinder Singh, cricketer turned politician, Navjyot Singh Sidhu as state chief by the Congress high command at the behest of Punjab Congress incharge n national general secretary Harish Rawat, in Uttarakhand too, in factionalism ridden Congress, its party chief who was considered to be hard core Harish Rawat detractor , Pritam Singh has been shunted out and appointed as leader of the opposition in state assembly. In his place a, protege of Harish Rawat n former lawmaker from Srinagar Garhwal, Ganesh Godiyal has been appointed as state chief, just eight months before the assembly elections due for March 2022 badly disappointing his loyalists. Kindly recall that the post of the leader of opposition has fallen vacant after the demise of veteran Congress leader, former minister and lawmaker from Haldwani Dr. Indira Hridayesh.
There are also reports that the name of veteran Congress leader, former CM Uttarakhand and general secretary of AICC has been almost finalised as the prospective chief minister of Uttarakhand. According to the letter of reorganisation of Uttarakhand Congress Harish Rawat has been nominated as the chairman of the election campaign committee with his protege Pradeep Tamta, MP Rajya Sabha as the vice president. Mr. Dinesh Aggrawal has been appointed as the convenor of this committee. What is significant about this new Uttarakhand body is the fact that on the lines of Punjab Congress in Uttarakhand too for the very first time, four working presidents have been nominated viz Professor Jeet Ram, Bhuvan Kapdi, Tilak Raj Behad and Ranjit Rawat.
Except Ranjit Rawat, Aryendra Sharma, the two are Harish Rawat’s yes man. The treasurer of Uttarakhand Congress is Aryendra Sharma. Aryendra Sharma was former CM of Uttarakhand Narayan Dutt Tiwari’s most trusted man who worked with him for pretty long time while Tiwari was the CM. Ranjit Sharma who had been with Harish Rawat for 35 years is toady his ardent political foe within the party planted by former Congress president Pritam Singh. Similarly, Joshi, considered to be the strong opponent of Harish Rawat has been appointed as the chairman of the election management committee posing threat to Rawat camp. The most notable point is that Rawat bete noire Kishore Upadhyay has been merely made the chairman of the coordination committee with the later not at all feeling satisfied who was actually trying hard to become state chief again.
However despite all this the new reorganisation of Uttarakhand Congress unambiguously shows that veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat had his fullest say with his detractors like former Congress presidents Pritam Singh and Kishore Upadhyay sidelined to an extent , who’s ambition to become CM of the state in 2022 has been dashed to ground. There are also reports of over all overhaul in the Uttarakhand Congress in the near future with Harish Rawat giving majority of organisational post to his henchmen, ousting previous chief’s loyalists.
Having his fullest say in Uttarakhand Congress by getting his protege Ganesh Godiyal appointed as the Uttarakhand Congress chief, sidelining his detractors, Harish Rawat has now unambiguously gained an upper hand in Uttarakhand Congress sidelining his entire detractors paving the way for becoming the future chief minister of the Himalayan state say political analysts.
मेजर ओंकार उत्तराखंडी
Party feuds will Mar the chances of deserving leadership to the state. We need stable, static and sincere Govt in the state. Answerability will have to be extended to the end man.