Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has once again stirred up talk of factionalism in the Congress in Uttarakhand through a tweet on Tuesday. In the tweet, he has congratulated the party for the Jan Chetna rally held in Dehradun on Monday, adding that he too would have been present in the protest had he been informed about it and his role in it.
It should be mentioned here that though the Congress leaders stress that the party is united in Uttarakhand, signs of factionalism in the party are being pointed out for some months in the State. On Monday, the Pradesh Congress Committee had organised a Jan Chetna rally in Dehradun to protest against the policies of the BJP Governments at the centre and State.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat was not present in the protest. On the other hand, previous PCC president Kishore Upadhyay who had elicited minor controversies by making statements not supported by the current PCC chief Pritam Singh was present at the protest in a show of solidarity with Singh. Rawat was also absent in Haldwani where the party held a large protest a day later. On Tuesday, Rawat tweeted congratulating the party for the two-wheeler Jan Chetna rally in Dehradun. He said that if a role had been assigned to him, he too would have liked to participate in the protest. He went on to request the PCC chief to inform him when such events are held. Rawat further said that he could not talk either with the PCC chief Pritam Singh or the Congress legislature Party leader regarding the protests in Dehradun and Haldwani. Though it is not necessary to call everyone in all programmes, all Congress members are united and will remain united to win over all challenges, he added in his tweet.
On the other hand, the PCC chief Pritam Singh clarified that information about party programmes is communicated to all party members from workers to senior leaders. Despite this, if someone does not wish to attend a programme it is that person’s wish, added Singh. The leader of opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and Haldwani MlA Indira Hridayesh also said that information about the protest was communicated to all but little could be done if some chose to not attend the demonstration.
Political analysts opine that while the Congress leaders try to maintain a united face, there are reasons to believe that friction has continued between some leaders in the Congress. This is also one of the factors being cited by the BJP to rebut the Congress allegations regarding differences among members of the State Cabinet. The Congress will first have to put its house in order before it makes efforts to defeat the BJP in the coming elections, opine observers.
