The regional satraps particularly ministers from the ruling party who want to have their cake and eat it too, may not have that kind of luxury now to afford in the post election scenario in Uttarakhand, given their poor record in these polls.
The senior Minister in the State Government and MlA from the Haldwani Assembly constituency Indira Hridayesh who has upped her ante more than once in the past seeking certain position for herself in the Government, will not be in such a position now keeping in view the party’s defeat in her Assembly constituency too in the recently concluded lok Sabha elections.
It may be recalled that State Finance Minister and MlA from Haldwani Assembly constituency Hridayesh gave a tough time to the Congress party projecting herself for Chief Minister’s post of Uttarakhand in 2012. Though she lost her race for becoming State Chief Minister first to the then Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and later to
incumbent Harish Rawat, she did not restrict her political ambition to this point.
The fact of the matter is that when she lost chances to become head of the State Government on both the occasions as mentioned above, she tried to reveal her desire to seek her pet portfolios like the PWD department. But interestingly, knowingly or unknowingly the party’s strategists turned down her wishes in this regard whenever she had made her desire open in this regard.
She even raised that issue of seeking PWD department with the Central leadership, but it turned out to be of no use. Her victory with a comfortable margin in the 2012 assembly polls and keeping in view her previous record, her supporters claim, as the PWD minister in the ND Tiwari regime, were a few reasons that have prompted State Cabinet Minister and MlA from Haldwani to seek similar position in both the previous Vijay Bahuguna led State Government and now in the State Harish Rawat led Government. But that demand of Cabinet Minister Hridayesh still remains unfulfilled.
With her inability to improve party’s position at least in her Haldwani assembly constituency in the recently concluded elections, has now only made the aforesaid demand of Hridayesh a distant possibility at least for the time being, admitted her
supporters here.
Though state party president and Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya has never been seen creating trouble for the party for seeking certain portfolios for himself, he would not be in a bargaining position in future too given his poor performance in the recently concluded lok Sabha elections. State Congress president Arya has not only failed to secure victory for the party candidate from his own the Bazpur assembly constituency (reserved seat) in the recently held lok Sabha polls but also became unable to win any of the five lok Sabha constituencies in these general elections for the party.
His previous record of winning all the five seats of lok Sabha in 2009 and subsequently, leading the party to power in Uttarakhand in 2012 were some of the major factors that perhaps made the Congress high command rely once more on State party president Arya despite increasing demand from within the party for bringing in new face to replace incumbent Arya. But it did not work.
Similarly, among other ministers, Harak Singh Rawat is also in similar position losing his Pauri lok Sabha seat to the BJP with a huge margin.
In the meanwhile, removal of Amrita Rawat from the council of ministers who despite failing to secure victory of the party in her Ramnagar assembly constituency, allegedly was not seeing eye to eye with the State Government after her husband Satpal Maharaj’s entry into the BJP, has been removed by Chief Minister Rawat only to strengthen his political position ahead.