leaving the ruling faction in the State red-faced, the Congress high command has foisted an eight-member co-ordination committee that includes the names of the intractable dissenters of the likes of former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, cabinet ministers Indira Hridayesh and Preetam Singh.
The party top brass made it clear that it would not brook factionalism eating into the electoral prospects of the party in the State which is presently in the election gear with the crucial Assembly election scheduled for early next year.
AICC general secretary Ambika Soni would be heading the committee and would act as the representative of the party high command to show the ruling faction in the State party their right place.
AICC has written to the PCC also, stressing the importance that the just-formed co-ordination committee enjoys in the Congress scheme of things. Other members of the committee are PCC president Kishore Upadhyay, who has been made convener, Chief Minister Harish Rawat, AICC secretary in-charge Sanjay Kapoor and MlA Sarita Arya.
“The constitution of the co-ordination committee is a serious setback for the Chief Minister Harish Rawat who has been also lording over the party organisation in the State. He seemed to have taken the Congress high command for granted as he was inclined to claim off and on that they had established perfect coordination between the party-led Govt and the organisation.
The high command, however, has made it clear that they would not be caught with chaff and would maneuver to ensure that all are taken on board as the party in the State is all set to plunge soon in the grand electoral battle 2017. It is to be seen as to how Harish Rawat and his cronies would adapt themselves to the new situation that is extremely unpalatable for them as they would have to rub shoulders with their die-hard detractors,” says an observer.
Political analysts further said that the high command exerting its supreme authority over the apparently over-confident State party organisation was expected. “The top leadership hinted that they would set out to put out the smouldering embers of dissent as they sent one of their close confidantes to Dehradun a number of times. It was clear that the purpose behind the representative being sent to the capital of the State was to gauge the mood within the party as the dissenters were going overboard at regular intervals to vent anger against the state of things in the party,” said one of them . It is clear too that the Congress high command sees red in the CM Harish Rawat dishing out announcement bonanza during his whirlwind tour through the nook and corner of the State.
They are duly worried about their electoral impact with doubt persisting over the State Government’s ability to execute them on the ground. Besides, Bahuguna and Hridayesh not getting the importance they deserve, given their seniority, seem to have nudged the high command to go for the course correction. The instance of the CM refusing to give appointment to Bahuguna when the latter had sought time on January 14 must have sent a wrong message to the party’s top brass. Bahuguna loyalists said that nothing could be more humiliating for their leader as both the CM and his predecessor are neighbours.
The State watchers say that the die was cast for CM faction when Bahuguna had met the party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi recently. “He must have given details of how he and others loyal to him are being cold-shouldered in the party and the Govt,” one of them said.