The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Rawat sticks to son’s seat, Uttarakhand Cong despairs
Virendra Rawat is up against BJP ex- CM Trivendra Singh Rawat. The BSP expected to further cut into Congress votes
AS THE most prominent face of the Congress in Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat is being sought after to canvass for party candidates in the state’s four Lok Sabha constituencies in the hills. However, the former Chief Minister has confined his travels to within Haridwar.
This is the seat his son Virendra, 48, is contesting from and facing a formidable opponent in former BJP CM Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Leaving no stone unturned, Harish Rawat is leading roadshows, door- to- door campaigns and street- corner meetings. Virendra can be mostly seen nodding obediently besides Rawat as the former CM holds yet another public meeting.
Party leaders who expected Rawat to spread his efforts across the state, as the party’s seniormost Uttarakhand leader, are barely hiding their discontent.
Pointing out that Rawat had campaigned across the state in the 2022 Assembly polls, which the Congress could not manage to win, a senior state Congress leader said, “Some party leaders upset over Rawat’s actions have quit in recent days. One of them joined the BJP earlier this week. “Responding to the criticism, Uttarakhand Congress vicepresident Surendra Agarwal said Thursday, “Harishji is camping in Haridwar because this election is tough, as the fight is against ( Narendra) Modi… There is demand for him to campaign in other constituencies. He will travel there too.”
But till Thursday, with voting still 12 days away, Rawat had not announced any plans to travel to other parts of Uttarakhand, even as he had personally overseen the opening of poll offices for his son i n every Assembly segment under the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat.
Rawat, who is 76, had earlier declined to contest himself citing health issues. He has a long association with the seat, having been elected from the seat in 2009, when he went on to become a Union minister. His wife Renuka lost the next Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar in 2014. In the 2022 Assembly elections, their daughter Anupama successfully contested from Haridwar Rural, defeating sitting BJP MLA Swami Yatishwaranand, though Rawat himself lost from Lalkuan to the BJP’S Mohan Singh Bisht.
Rawat is now asking Haridwar’s voters to trust his son, clarifying at the same time that Virendra only got the ticket because he has been a party worker “for decades”. At a public meeting in Rahmatpur, under the Piran Kaliyar Assembly segment, earlier this week, Rawat said Virendra had been associated with the party for 25 years, having earlier worked in the NSUI, Youth Congress, Seva Dal and the state Congress.
Addressing a gathering in Ranipokhri on Thursday, he said, “The party was asking me to contest. I told them I’m not well. But when I found there was hard lobbying going on for an unworthy person, I asked the party leadership to consider my son.”
Rawat added, “I assure you that if Virender Rawat is not better than me, he won’t be any less than me either. Give him an opportunity. “
In his speeches, the former CM also compares the achievements of his government with that of governments led by BJP CMS Trivendra Singh Rawat and the incumbent Pushkar Singh Dhami.
What will also be worrying the Congress is that the BSP, which has got a significant number of votes in Haridwar in past elections has fielded a candidate from the seat, Jamil Ahmed. At 30%, Muslims form the singlelargest group among the electorate in Haridwar, followed by Dalits and OBCS ( Sainis, Jats and Gujjars) at 20% each..
Rawat has been reaching out to the Muslims, with one of the slogans in Virendra’s publicity material being: “Aapke sangharsh ke saathi Harish Rawat ka maan rakhen, saath den ( Honour the companion in your struggles, Harish Rawat, support me).”