Ajay Bhatt though beaming following his selection as the State BJP president for the next three years on the last day of year 2015 knows well that he has stormy days ahead with the crucial Assembly election approaching and the three satraps - all former CMs - likely to keep him on their radars, observers say. They further say that his first challenge would be to sufficiently galvanise the party. The party's rank and file remain demoralized with the party having failed to secure a single significant victory on the hustings held after the 2014 general election, one of the observers says. Another says that the attack must be focused on Chief Minister Harish Rawat who is all set to be the chief helmsman of the Congress to steer his party to victory in the Assembly election. "Rawat being identified with the party in the State, the foot soldiers can be motivated by asking them to go all out against the most charismatic leader of the Congress. It is a difficult task though, given the saffron party's debacles, one after other, in the by-polls in Doiwala, Someshwar, Dharchula and Bhagwanpur," he opines.
However, comparison coming up between Bhatt's performance as the leader of the Opposition with that of his predecessor Harak Singh Rawat (2007-12) would add to his difficulty ahead. However, his advantage lies in the lacklustre performance of the last two State BJP heads - Bishan Singh Chufal and Teerath Singh Rawat.
Party insiders say Bhatt in his stint as the loP had failed to take things to their logical conclusion despite raising several important issues like mining, Fl-2, sting operation and disaster scam. "He would be under the scanner of the senior leaders. They would wait in the wings for Bhatt to slip. He must deliver and fast enough too," one of them says.