In continuation of official action against its nine turncoat MlAs and their followers, the Pradesh Congress Committee expelled MlA and former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s son and PCC executive member Saket Bahuguna and organisation secretary Anil Gupta for a period of six years.
PCC president Kishore Upadhyay expelled the two for indulging in anti-party activities. In the meantime, party workers holding varied views on the recent political developments have largely remained with the organisational leadership of the Congress.
According to the PCC chief spokesman Mathuradatt Joshi, the disciplinary committee of PCC had declared Bahuguna and Gupta guilty of supporting the turncoat MlAs in carrying out anti-party activities. The disciplinary committee had recommended suspension of the two party office bearers, acting on which the PCC chief had ordered their suspension from the Congress for a period of six years. Meanwhile, the PCC has maintained that six of the nine turncoat MlAs were in touch with the party leadership and repenting their actions.
Observers point out that while the Congress leadership at the Central and State levels considers varied scenarios and options, office bearers of the PCC are trying to capitalise on the opportunity to display their ‘loyalty’ towards the party.
While the BJP held protest against the Congress-led State Government for allegedly framing Mussoorie MlA Ganesh Joshi, Congress office bearers in Dehradun and elsewhere in the State staged protests against the turncoat MlAs and BJP on Monday. The Dehradun Mahanagar Mahila Congress head Kamlesh Raman led party members holding public meets in Raipur assembly constituency to publicise the party’s stance regarding the turncoat MlAs. The PCC Dehradun district head Yamin Ansari led supporters who burnt the rebel MlAs and BJP in effigy. With similar demonstrations being held in different parts of the state at city, block and district levels, observers point out that office bearers trying to consolidate their position in the party are making the most of the opportunity to display their continued loyalty to the party leadership and chief minister Harish Rawat. The bulk of PCC office bearers and party supporters discussing politics at Congress Bhawan in Dehradun expressed varied views while also maintaining their loyalty to the party. The party workers here are of the view that most of the turncoats have already started ruing their decision of going against the chief minister. An office bearer wanting to remain anonymous opined that the Congress-led State Government is under no threat now but may suffer the consequences of dissidence later in the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections. “During its term in office, the BJP led State Government had replaced the then chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank with Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri expecting electoral gains but the decision had not achieved its target with the BJP suffering defeat in the 2012 assembly elections. There are varied possible scenarios like the turncoats severely damaging their own political standing or making amends by coming back to the party’s fold but at present, our party workers remain loyal to the organisation even though they may favour one leader over the other,” said the PCC office bearer.