Reacting sharply to the State PCC president Kishore Upadhyay’s statement that the president of PCC is responsible for Congress but not for Progressive Democratic front (PDF), Chief Minister Harish Rawat said on Saturday that party high command and he as the CM can take the final call on the Congress’s future association with the PDF.
The categorical rebuttal of the state party chief’s statement vis-à-vis the State Congress’s relation with PDF has made it clear that the CM is still strongly reluctant to sever ties with its time-tested ally. Besides, he has asserted his position too in the state party set-up, over-ruling the state party chief, say the observers.
The relation between the two has been worsening since the State party chief was denied candidature for Rajya Sabha seat.
Upadhyay previously represented the Tehri Assembly constituency, but later, he lost the seat to the independent MlA Dinesh Dhanai during Assembly election-2012. It is likely, given the present equations in the state Congress with Harish Rawat remaining the undisputed leader, Dhanai is likely to be re-nominated for the upcoming election.