Rawat stands tall as Rahul meets warring factions

Ex-CM to lead Cong in U’khand polls

The trouble within the Congress in the pollbound state of Uttarakhand seems to be over temporarily as former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday held hectic talks with the warring factions. Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, Congress Legislature Party leader Pritam Singh and state party president Ganesh Godiyal met Mr Gandhi in New Delhi in the presence of K.C. Venugopal. Senior leaders Yashpal Arya, Kishor Upadhyay and AICC incharge of Uttarakhand Devendra Yadav were also present.

The meeting comes after veteran party leader Rawat went public with his lament of “internal sabotage”, saying the leadership had abandoned him and he felt he had had enough.

After the meeting a beaming Mr Rawat said, “As the head of the campaign committee I will lead the campaign and all will provide their utmost cooperation.” On being asked whether he will also be the chief ministerial candidate, Mr Rawat said that this will be decided by the MLAs after the polls are over.

The problem in the Uttarakhand unit started after newly-appointed incharge Devendra Yadav started “sidelining senior leaders”, resulting in rampant factionalism in the state unit. Mr Rawat, at present, has been assured by the high command that his interests will be protected by the party. State unit chief Ganesh Godiyal has also thrown his weight behind the Congress veteran.

State in-charge Yadav is a political newbie and has just been an MLA in Delhi. Insiders say that he wanted the lion’s share in distribution of tickets, something which did not go down well with Mr Rawat.

On Wednesday, Mr Rawat had posted a series of tweets signaling another crisis for the Congress

As the head of the campaign committee I will lead the campaign and all will provide their utmost cooperation — Harish Rawat, Congress leader

after Punjab.

“The powers-that-be have let loose many crocodiles (predators) in the sea we have to navigate. Those whom I am supposed to follow... their people have tied my hands and feet. I have been thinking... Harish Rawat, it’s gone too far, you have done enough, it is time to rest,” he said on Wednesday.

He also alleged internal sabotage as things were not going good for the party in the state. Some leaders of the party feel that the crisis in Uttarakhand has all the makings of the crisis that the Punjab unit of the party is undergoing. They claim that the crisis has been averted as of now but another showdown between the players in Uttarakhand cannot be ruled out.