Senior Cong leaders push for Harish Rawat's name for CM, infighting intensifies

Rawat, a few weeks ago, asked the central Congress leadership to declare the CM face for the upcoming Uttarakhand assembly polls.

Weeks after Congress national general secretary and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat urged the party's central leadership to declare the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming state assembly elections in 2022, the issue has intensified with some senior party leaders pushing for his name for the top post.

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. (HT Photo)

The debate on declaring the CM face of the party for the upcoming assembly elections started after Rawat, a few weeks ago, asked the central leadership to do so to "bring clarity and end confusion among the party workers in the state."

The state leadership, including state unit head Pritam Singh and leader of Opposition Indira Hridayesh, who were clearly rattled by the move, tried to play it down in the public and said that the party would fight the elections under a "collective leadership." However, many senior party leaders who are believed to be from Rawat's camp, including Rajya Sabha member from Almora, Pradeep Tamta and senior MLA Govind Singh Kunjwal, have been pushing for his name for the CM face in an attempt to keep the issue burning.

Kunjwal, a senior MLA from Jageshwar constituency in Almora, said, "The only candidate for the CM in Congress for 2022 is Harish Rawat as he is the widely accepted leader in the state with no other leader close to his public outreach."

Similarly, Rajya Sabha MP Tamta on Saturday, while speaking to some local media persons, too insisted on declaring Rawat as the CM candidate and said, "Rawat is the only national leader from Uttarakhand Congress. No other leader comes close to his stature in the state."

"There is an anti-BJP sentiment in the public and to capitalise on that and defeat the BJP, it is important to declare the party's CM face for 2022," he said.

With Rawat's name is being pushed by his close aides in the party, political experts say that as a very well-seasoned politician, Rawat is cleverly playing his cards before the elections.

SMA Kazmi, who has been keeping an eye on the state politics for last two decades, said, "This whole game started about three months ago when party leaders and MLAs close to Rawat held a press conference in Haldwani declaring him as the only face for the CM post if the party wins 2022 elections."

"Also, the ground reality is that he is the only leader in the party who has a statewide public outreach. He also knows that if the party wins, the only name that would come forward for the CM will be his. But he wants to make that clear well before the polls are held," said Kazmi.

He also claimed that by pushing his name for the CM candidate, Rawat is trying to play two cards at once.

"First, by doing so he wants to steer the elections by himself which would give him an upper hand in giving tickets to the candidates of his choice. Secondly, he would be able to clear the tussle for the CM post if the party wins, saying, as the elections were fought under him, he would be the CM," he said.

Another political expert and professor of police science in Garhwal Central University, MM Semwal, said, "Rawat is a very seasoned politician. He knows when and how to play his cards to maintain his upper hand in the party."

"Despite losing the 2017 assembly elections and the 2019 general elections badly, his popularity in the state has not decreased. In fact, he has become more active in state politics and often holds various political events or keeps making statements to be in the limelight. This CM face tactic is also the same and he knows that he will be becoming the CM if the party wins," said Semwal.

Party state in-charge Devendra Yadav couldn't be contacted despite several attempts.

State unit head Pritam Singh, however, tried to play it down by saying that, "As the party's central leadership had said, the elections would be fought under a collective leadership to overthrow the BJP government in 2022."

Leader of Opposition, Hridayesh, said, "Congress had never declared the CM candidate before the elections. It did once in 2017, in the case of Rawat, when the party lost badly and confined to just 11 seats."

The state BJP leadership, however, took a jibe on the infighting in Congress.

Bansidhar Bhagat, party state president, said, "The Congress is not able to put its house in order and dreaming of winning the elections which is just laughable. The public of the state has seen the works done under both PM Modi and CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and are happy with it. We will again come to power in 2022."