As the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections draw nearer, the internal disagreement in the Congress is becoming more evident on a routine scale.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has so far managed to mitigate repercussions of internal factionalism. However, the situation appears problematic considering instances like the reported manhandling of Congress State president Kishore Upadhyay by supporters of State finance minister and Haldwani MlA Indira Hridayesh. Her supporters were miffed at her being apparently sidelined at the inauguration of the Haldwani sports stadium marked by the launch of continental wrestling entertainment.
Ever since they assumed charge as the chief minister and party state chief respectively, Rawat and Upadhyay have been facing varied challenges from within and outside the party. Since the demise of cabinet minister Surendra Rakesh in February 2015, his cabinet berth has remained vacant till now. According to political analysts, the CM has so far managed to tackle consistent moves of rival factions including those wanting to secure position in the cabinet.
Sitarganj MlA and previous CM Vijay Bahuguna and MlAs supporting him have on many occasions approached the party leadership in the State and Delhi raising issues like purported partiality and need for accommodating Congress MlAs in the cabinet instead of retaining all the four MlAs of the Progressive Democratic Front.
This and other organisational issues have been raised from time to time at varied levels exposing differences of opinion among the Congress ministers and organisation leadership. The issue of establishing Gairsain as the State capital has also seen Congress cabinet ministers and leaders openly contradicting each other either in accordance with or against the stated official line of the party.
While the PCC chief and Vidhan Sabha speaker GS Kunjwal among others made statements in support of Gairsain, cabinet minister Indira Hridayesh and Harish Rawat among others have made statements questioning the validity of the plan, causing some embarrassment to the party. More recently, the inauguration of the sports stadium in Haldwani with the inaugural event of Continental Wrestling Entertainment once again exposed the rifts and discontent festering within the party.
The event which being touted as among the major initiatives of the State aimed at boosting tourism, turned out to be an embarrassing occasion as supporters of Hridayesh raised slogans against the CM and PCC chief alleging that she had been sidelined despite her involvement in development of the sports stadium. The issue was apparently resolved later after the CM met Hridayesh.
Observers point out that while the PCC continues to accuse the Central Government for various problems being faced in Uttarakhand, the Congress itself in Uttarakhand is going through a phase marred by factionalism, confusion and political machinations which have not only affected the party but also influenced functioning of the State Government.
Working to fulfill their electoral promises in time for the 2017 assembly polls on the one hand while tackling various organisational issues at the same time has made the situation more challenging for the Congress and its MlAs in Uttarakhand.