E-Paper
Course correction important for Congress to win Uttarakhand polls: Harish Rawat
“Some course correction is important to win the upcoming elections,” former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said.
A “course correction” is necessary for the Congress to script a victory in the upcoming Uttarakhand assembly elections, the party’s campaign committee chairman Harish Rawat said on Saturday.
“Some course correction is important to win the upcoming elections,” Rawat said at a media briefing.
The rethinking comes a day after Rawat met Rahul Gandhi. He had earlier posted several tweets that were seen as his unhappiness with the party’s election strategy. Rawat was replaced by Harish Chaudhary two months ago as the party’s chief election strategist for the Punjab assembly elections due in early 2022, the same as Uttarakhand.
“One thing we all should understand is that the AICC (All India Congress Committee) is the boss, just like the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). The election in-charges are like a coach. But the playing captain, too, is important,” the former Uttarakhand chief minister said on Saturday. “So, there should be a relation of confidence and understanding among the three.”
“If you play at cross purposes, the match will be lost,” the veteran party leader said. “Therefore, whatever I said was so that we would win the match. If I would have said it normally, then people would have accused me of political adjustments. So, expressing pain often benefits the party, and I think it will benefit the party.”
Taking a dig at former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh and Congress parliamentarian Manish Tewari, Rawat said they were regretting quitting the Congress.
Rawat served as chief minister of Uttarakhand between 2014 and 2017, and the party sees the 2022 assembly polls as an opportunity to return to power since the Bharatiya Janata Party is roiled by troubles of its own. The ruling party has changed the chief minister three times in the past year.
The BJP has 55 members the assembly of 70 members; the Congress has 12.
Queried on his meeting with Gandhi, Rawat said it has been made clear that everyone has to work together. “I will lead as the campaign committee chairman, and everyone will support me,” he said.
However, the Congress has stopped short of announcing Rawat as its chief ministerial candidate.
