Party dissidents refusing to clear out of the contest from two high-stake seats from where the state chiefs of the rival parties- Ajay Bhatt of BJP and Kishore Upadhyay of Congress-are in the fray, have made the leaders of both the parties wonder how they would justify their respective poll lists in case the two leaders, spearheading their campaign, are beaten at the hustings. Notably, while Bhatt is contesting from Ranikhet seat in Almora district Upadhyay is trying his electoral luck from Sahaspur seat in Dehradun district. They are both facing dissidents from their respective parties who have refused to budge despite persistent coaxing by the top brasses, the day of withdrawal having ended on Wednesday.
Bhatt is pitted against the Congress candidate Karan Mahra. But the presence of the BJP dissident Pramod Nainwal in the fray is worrying BJP more as Nainwal cutting into BJP votes might make Bhatt fairly vulnerable.
Bhatt’s was a chequred political career with mixes of successes and reverses. He was the state health minister in the interim government (2000-2002) led by Nityanand Swami formed after Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000. In 2002 election he won. However, in the next election 2007, he lost the poll battle, but he sprang back by a win in 2012. Aware of the importance of Bhatt in the state party –he is the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly aside from being the state party chief-the party’s nation general secretary Ram lal stepped in to cajole the dissident Nainwal to clear out of the fray. But the efforts having ended in smoke have deepened wrinkles on the party’s brows.
Similarly, the fate of the state Congress chief Upadhyay being wagered in Sahaspur constituency, which was won by BJP in the last election, the road ahead of him has been made tougher with the party rebel Aryendra Sharma refusing to be coaxed out of the contest. Upadhyay was a cabinet minister during 2002-07. He won the Tehri Assembly seat in 2007 election, but lost to the Independent Dinesh Dhanai in 2012 election.
Stung by the drubbing, the loquacious leader held then Tehri MP Vijay Bahuguna responsible for his defeat. Ironically, Dhanai became a member of the seven -member conglomerate known as PDF which helped Congress to form the government helmed by Bahuguna. Unable to digest his defeat at the hands of one of the PDF members, Upadhyaya raised hammer and tongs against Congress aligning with the conglomerate of the seven MlAs. later, Dhanai was made a cabinet minister of the Congress-led government, resulting in increased heartburns for Upadhyay. Much before the poll bugle was sounded for the election-2017, he kept insisting on the PDF members contesting either as Congress candidates or else facing the Congress nominees in case they chose to contest as Independents. Upadhyay inclined to spar with the chief minister Harish Rawat even on trifles, the party high command chose him as the candidate for Sahaspur seat while giving short shrift to Aryendra Sharma who contested and lost to the BJP candidate Sahdev Pundir during 2012 election.
Observers say that in case Upadhyay loses the election he would cease to have the moral right to stick to the post of the state party president. In that case, he might be eased out of the state politics on being promoted with a post in Delhi. “This is in sync with how the party brass acts regarding the defeated leaders. For instance, Mahendra Singh Mahra, who lost the Assembly election-2012 was sent to Rajya Sabha and Pradeep Tamta who lost the general election-2014 to BJP’s Ajay Tamta was sent to the same upper house of the Parliament by way of political rehabilitation,” said a State watcher.