Will resign from Assembly if charges proved against me for encouraging factionalism in Uttarakhand Congress says Pritam Singh

The former prime minister Indira Gandhi has once said that in Congress party there is a challenge from within as its leaders defeat their own candidates rather than party confronting challenge from the opposition parties.

This statement of former PM Indira Gandhi fits in the politics of Uttarakhand Congress where the party has not only lost badly this time, securing merely 19 seats out of 70 but its leaders who had been fighting surreptitiously and openly as well, negatively impacted the party’s chances in the assembly elections, still in a fighting mode, not learning any lessons from the shameful defeat.

These internal wranglings in the party between various groups led by the former CM Harish Rawat and former leader of opposition Pritam Singh and earlier between Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj and Harish Rawat became so paramount that in 2016 -17, it resulted in destabilizing the then Congress government compounded by defection of more than 9 MLAs to BJP, with Congress losing badly at the hustings winning on merely 12 seats and now in 2022 on 19 seats only, enabling return of BJP to power breaking the myth of alternate party coming to power after every five years.

Even the towering Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat lost from three assembly seats, two in 2017 n one from Lalquan this time. But despite all this, the Congress leaders seem to have not learnt any lesson from this defeat say sources.

After the new appointments of new Congress chief Karan Mehra and leader of the Congress legislature party Yashpal Arya n deputy CLP leader youthful Bhuvan Kapri who defeated CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, replacing former chief Ganesh Godiyal and LOP Pritam Singh there is tremendous opposition of the high command’s decision with one protege of Pritam Singh openly criticizing the trio Mr. Venugopal, party general secretary, former CM Harish Rawat and Devendra Yadav for allegedly openly selling the post of president n opposition leader for money after allegedly selling the party tickets in assembly elections on winning seats. The following tweets by Girish Chandra are self explanatory.

The Congress high command has blamed the state Congress leaders for encouraging factionalism in the party in Uttarakhand leading to party’s shameful defeat. Feeling angered, irritated and annoyed the former state Congress chief and Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh openly came out against these accusations of the trio K. C. Venugopal, Harish Rawat and Devendra Yadav. Speaking to the media yesterday at his residence in Dehradun, Pritam Singh outrightly rejected the accusation about increasing factionalism in the party blaming him.

He catagorically said that he will resign from his assembly seat if it is amply proved that he encouraged factionalism in the party saying that he never, even once encouraged groupism in the party during his tenure as president from 2017 to 2022, nor while he was leader of opposition. He asked the high command to hold a probe on this charge and would not take any responsibility till he is not exonerated of these baseless allegations. Meanwhile, after Yashpal Arya’s taking over the charge of leader of opposition and Karan Mahra becoming new state chief the crowds have started shifting to these houses with less number of people coming to Pritam Singh’s place.

However, the tallest Congress leader of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat seem to be in low profile after losing from Lalquan n Congress also losing badly, having already given statement about his political future being in jeopardy. In one of his social media posts he had unambiguously revealed that he does not know as to what will be the attitude of Congress high command towards him, will accept him in future or not, for party’s drubbing in Uttarakhand?