While Uttarakhand is poised to go for the Assembly polls in a few months, two principal parties, vying for power, are suffering from internal crisis.
For BJP, the squabbling among the important leaders has come to the fore during the crucial working committee meet being held in Roorkee. Things are same for the ruling Congress with a section of the its leaders baring fangs at the Progressive Democratic Front, comprising four MlAs, an ally of the Congress.
Things turned embarrassing for the BJP which is employing every means to return to power when the former Chief Minister and Udham Singh Nagar MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari spoke against three important leaders of the party- State BJP president and leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt, Union minister Ajay Tamta and State BJP secretary Sanjay Kumar in course of the party’s working committee meeting in the presence of the Union Health Minister JP Nadda who is the in-charge of the saffron party’s poll preparations for the State.
Koshyari also warned the party against indulging too much the newly inducted leaders who were Congress rebels, saying that the party’s aspirants for seats to be given to the former Congress rebels would jeopardise electoral prospects of the party.
Political analysts say that the former CM is frustrated with the party high command ignoring the old horses, including him, while propping up the new entrants. Koshyari asked the party’s top brass to keep this aspect in mind while firming up the party’s strategy vis-a-vis the rebels.
The party’s rank and file are demoralised with many of them saying that the internal squabbling would help the Congress romp home, sans much difficulty. “We hoped that the party would present a united face in the run-up to the election. But what happened during the State party meeting has sent a wrong signal, making it difficult for the party to cash on the general disillusionment that has crept into the people regarding the failure of the Harish Rawat Government on the front of development. Time ticking by, it would be difficult for the Opposition party to seize the initiative from the ruling Congress,” said a veteran party worker who was disinclined to be named.
However, on the other hand, things are not rosy for the ruling Congress either with bickering continuing in the party over its continued alliance with the PDF. Embarrassingly enough for the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, increasing number of State leaders are raising serious questions over the intentions of the PDF leaders, now holding important Cabinet ranks, vis-à-vis the Congress. The crux of what the dissenters say is that the PDF leaders are most likely to criticise the Congress during the poll campaigning, trashing the alliance.
Things turned more serious as the dissenters issued a press note, asking the PDF leaders to desist from terrorising them while invoking Sonia Gandhi, the party president. Notably, the PDF leaders are dropping her name frequently, saying that the supreme leader of the party would take the final call on the emotive matter for the State Congress.
“They must choose either of the two options-contesting the election on Congress tickets or sever ties with the party to contest on their own. But the party’s stance is far from clear with Harish Rawat taking immense pains to shield them,” said a senior state Congress leader, unhappy over the party leadership humouring PDF at the expense of the party.
However, an observer said that it is most unlikely that the PDF leaders would contest on Congress tickets even if the party brass asks them to do. “They, though small in number, played the role of king-makers after the election 2012 ended up, throwing a hung Assembly. They hope that things would be the same after the upcoming election too, enabling them to wield power to make or unmake ministries,” the observer said.