Strong protests from Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Harish Rawat, the party brought an uneasy truce.
With Vijay Bahuguna the party high command’s surprise choice for the Uttarakhand chief minister’s post being sworn-in at Dehradun, despite strong protests from Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Harish Rawat, the party brought an uneasy truce.
It has a wafer thin majority of one vis-a-vis the main opposition BJP, and just 11 of its 32 legislators were present at the oath-taking ceremony. The rest of them were camping in Delhi, and were pressurising Rawat not to take things lying down. Rawat is a former chief of the party’s Sewa Dal, and the party leadership is banking heavily on his spirit of sewa ( service) to see that there is no further trouble.
“He is an activist of long standing, and has come up through the ranks. He is aware that in the larger interest of the party and nation, decisions are taken that hurt legitimate individual expectations. His disappointment is understandable, but we expect him to take all this in his stride,” said party spokesperson Manish Tiwari.
Last night Rawat supporters raised a ruckus at his residence and also clashed with Bahuguna supporters. Later Rawat wrote to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressing his disappointment over the fact that this was the second time he had been ignored for this post by the party leadership. Ten years ago, he was bypassed and the elder leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari was chosen.
This time Bahuguna a former high court judge and son of the late Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna edged him out in a tight race. Bahuguna is also related to the outgoing chief minister BC Khanduri.
Party sources maintained that the internal dissensions made it impossible to work out a consensus on Harish Rawat, and other claimants like Satpal Maharaj, and Harak Singh Rawat or Indra Hridesh.
Another factor that went against Harish Rawat were complaints that he had put up a large number of rebels against the official candidates, and this affected the party’s chances.
But the Congress party leadership is confident that Bahuguna would be able to tide over this initial crisis. “This is the party’s template for taking decisions, and it has stood the test of time. All concerned usually come around irrespective of the initial reaction,” said Tiwari.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}