Proving his detractors wrong who had predicted that humiliating defeat from Nainital- Udham Singh Nagar parliamentary constituency would end his political career, the former chief minister and general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Harish Rawat is fervently pursuing political activity in Uttarakhand.

In a scenario where after being at the receiving end of severe drubbing it received at the hands of BJP in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, the senior Congress leaders are talking about preparing a road-map for the revival of the grand old party in the state, Rawat with his actions among the general public is showing this path of revival to other party leaders.

In the high stake election, the president of the state unit of BJP Ajay Bhatt trounced Harish Rawat from Nainital- Udham Singh Nagar seat by a huge margin of 339096 votes.  Rawat however lost no time in overcoming the shock of the loss and started visiting different parts of the state.

 In Haridwar, he visited some temples where he offered prayers. On Monday, he surprised everyone when he landed at Rajiv Bhawan, the headquarters of state unit of Congress party where interacting with the media persons, he accepted that the party is going through a bad phase.

He added that the fate has taken such a turn that despite of adopting a good strategy and efforts made by the workers; nothing is working positively for the party.  True to his spirit, Rawat expressed confidence that the Congress party has full capability to come out of this bad phase.

On Tuesday he visited the residence of president of Shiromani Ravidas Sabha, Umesh Kumar at Ambedkarnagar slum on DL Road. Here Rawat held discussions with the members of Scheduled Caste (SC) community on the reasons of the party’s defeat over a cup of a tea. In this meeting the slum dwellers expressed their apprehension  that the BJP is out to destroy the slums. Some members expressed concern on the rising prices of gas cylinder. Later talking with the media persons, Harish Rawat accepted that in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress was not able to explain its schemes to the general public.

 He said that the path of reviving the party passes through the people. Continuing his ongoing tour, the senior Congress leader is expected to visit Kedarnath, Dharchula and Munsyari in coming days. Commenting on hyper activity of Harish Rawat, one political commentator commented, “ Harish Rawat is the tallest leader of Congress party in Uttarakhand and it is unfortunate that he has lost the election. However the veteran leader has not decided to get subdued by the loss.

By sitting on a fast under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to mourn the death of a dalit youth and holding discussion on reasons for loss of party in the house of a dalit, Harish Rawat is trying to regain the lost ground of congress among Dalits who once were its supporters.’’