The BJP is planning to give a tough fight to Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who may contest Assembly by-poll from Dharchula or Doiwala Assembly constituency. If he contests from Dharchula, which will be vacated by Congress MlA Harish Dhami, the BJP may field State BJP general secretary and ex-Cabinet Minister Prakash Pant against him. If the CM contests from Doiwala, which will be vacated by ex-CM Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank after swearing-in as MP of lok Sabha, then the BJP may field ex-MP Satpal Maharaj or BJP national secretary Trivendra Singh Rawat against him.
The Congress high command, which had appointed the then Union Cabinet Minister Harish Rawat as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand by replacing Vijay Bahuguna on February 1, 2014, is very upset with the CM’s bid to find out a safe seat to become a member of the Vidhan Sabha. Sources said that the high command had appointed him (Rawat) with a hope that he would ensure victory of the party’s candidates in the lok Sabha election. After witnessing annihilation in all five lok Sabha seats of the State, CM Rawat would not dare to contest election from Doiwala Assembly seat. Sources said that he thinks if he contests from Doiwala, coming under the Haridwar lok Sabha seat which he still represents till the newly elected member takes oath of office, then his opponents within the party may canvass against him. If he loses he will have to resign from the post of CM.
Now the CM has made up his mind to contest election from Dharchula Assembly seat. In a bid to assess the ground situation, the CM spent a day in Dharchula and even announced a few bonanza for the constituency in the recently-held Cabinet meeting. In fact, by doing this he violates the Model Code of Conduct.
Meanwhile, the BJP has done its home work to give a tough fight to Rawat in both Dharchula and Doiwala Assembly seats. Sources said that the BJP may field ex-MP Satpal Maharaj, who had left the Congress and joined the BJP during the lok Sabha election because he was feeling upset since the appointment of Rawat as CM of Uttarakhand.
If Maharaj refuses to contest then the BJP may field BJP national secretary Trivendra Singh Rawat, who had represented the Doiwala in during 2002-2012 and later he lost Assembly election-2012 from Raipur Vidhan Sabha because he had to shift here due to delimitation-2008, against CM Rawat. The party will take the final decision after consulting Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who will vacate the Doiwala Assembly seat after taking oath of office in Parliament. To lure the people of Doiwala Assembly constituency, who have been demanding tehsil status for long, CM Rawat inaugurated a teshil office in Doiwala on Sunday evening.
To give a tough fight to CM Rawat in Dharchula Assembly seat, which will face by-poll if sitting Congress MlA Harish Dhami resigns, BJP may field their State general secretary Prakash Pant. It would be pertinent to mention here that Prakash Pant had lost Assembly election-2012 from Pithoragarh with Congress candidate Mayuk Mahar and then Sitarganj by-poll-2012 with Congress candidate and then CM Vijay Bahuguna. Sources said that the BJP is considering the name of ex-Chief Secretary RS Tolia’s nephew KS Tolia, who may be fielded by the BJP against the CM in Dharchula Assembly by-poll.
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal has offered his seat Jageshwer to the CM. It would be pertinent to mention here that the Congress has won mere seven Vidhan Sabha seats in the recently concluded general election-2014. It won merely in two Vidhan Sabha segments i.e. Jageshwar of Almora district and Dharchula of Pithoragarh district. Talking to The Pioneer Prakash Pant said that he is not keen to contest the election but the party’s decision would be final.