To show to the people a united face of the State BJP, the State party is set to welcome all the 10 Congress dissident MlAs who had recently joined BJP at a programme to be held at the State BJP headquarters on Sunday. Since their switch to BJP murmurs of disgruntlement are being heard in the faction-ridden State BJP.
Realising that such kind of cool, if not openly hostile, response would send a wrong message to the party rank and file and the people at large aside from nullifying its attempt to wreck Congress from within, the party top brass asked the State leaders to arrange a programme to welcome all the 10 MlAs to the party. To attend it, most of the ten MlAs arrived in Dehradun on Saturday. However, they were enthused by the warm welcome the BJP activists accorded to them at the airport. This has surely dissipated much of the misgivings they might have nurtured over their switch aside from giving Congress a reason to worry.
Talking to The Pioneer, a BJP leader said that right now party leaders have been following wait and watch policy. “The party high command has assured us that they have joined BJP without any term and conditions enjoined on it. We hope things would settle down well without generating fresh discord in the already fractured party unit,” he said.
Sources said that these 10 MlAs having their formidable vote-banks in their respective constituencies would leave the aspirants from the party in the cold as they are most likely to be nominated.
Ex CM Vijay Bahuguna was elected from Sitarganj. This seat has a history of its own. The seat was won by BJP candidate Kiran Mandal during Assembly election-2012. Mandal later switched over to Congress and vacated it to pave way for then CM Bahuguna to step in the Assembly through contesting from the seat. Since then, his youngest son Saurabh Bahuguna has been grooming the constituency. Bahuguna threw broad hints a day after the switch that though he would not contest he would love to see Saurabh trying his electoral luck from the seat he represented on BJP ticket.
Narendranagar MlA Subodh Uniyal is another rebel MlA who switched to BJP from Congress. The principal reason that prodded him to turn a rebel was the fact that Congress leaders were trying by all means to erode his base in the constituency. Thus, it would be in the fitness of things that he would be give nomination by BJP to contest from the seat again. However, luckily for BJP, it is deemed a weak seat for it. In the last election, BJP fielded former UKD leader Omgopal from Narendranagar who lost to Uniyal.
Amrita Rawat, wife of former MP Satpal Maharaj, who was elected from Ramnagar constituency, can hardly be given a short shrift by the BJP leadership, given her strong clout still left in the constituency. However, she herself opting out of it might give BJP the option to field a party leader as a candidate. It is known that Amrita expressed her reluctance for re-contesting from the seat. This is the reason why another Congress leader Ranjit Rawat who is considered to be Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s close aide has been let in to groom the constituency. Amrita might be shifted elsewhere if she insists so, BJP insiders say.
Jaspur MlA Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal who has been winning the seat since 2002 might be fielded again by BJP as it is likely that he would romp home again from the BJP camp, adding to the saffron strength. Again, BJP has no leader who is capable of fetching the seat if Singhal is shifted elsewhere.
However, things are not so lucky for the Kedarnath MlA Dr Shaila Rani Rawat. She is considered close to the former Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat. Things would be a tad tough for her as far as her re-nomination from this constituency on BJP ticket is concerned. BJP leader Asha Nautiya has been scouting for the seat for long. She lost the election in 2012, but she is eager to throw the gauntlet again.
Khanpur MlA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, who has won the seat for three consecutive terms, is most likely to be nominated for the same by BJP. In case it happens he stands a fair chance to win the seat for BJP. The seat being dominated by the Scheduled Caste did not mar his electoral prospects.
Roorkee MlA Pradeep Batra is an interesting case. He was so close to Harish Rawat at the time Vijay Bahuguna was foisted in 2012 as the CM that he declined to take oath as an MlA in token protest against his mentor being left out in the cold. He turned a rebel because the State party brass has been propping up Roorkee Municipal Corporation chairman from his constituency at his expense.
Raipur MlA Umesh Sharma Kau proved a giant killer as he humbled BJP stalwart and former Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in his debut in the realm electoral politics in 2012. He is most likely to be given nomination by BJP as his clout remains unscathed despite things happening thick and fast. He turned a rebel as the State Congress brass asked him to look elsewhere for contest, leaving the seat for another.
Someshwar MlA Rekha Arya rebelled because she was sure to be denied ticket for her constituency with CM’s close aide and former MP Pradeep Tamta being given preference by the party leaders. BJP is likely to give her party ticket as it proved difficult for the BJP brass to field a candidate for the seat vacated by Ajay Tamta following his election to lok Sabha during 2014 general election. The fact that she is close to the BJP satrap and former CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari might prove an added advantage for her.
Finally, Harak Singh Rawat is likely to get the BJP ticket for Rudraprayag constituency. He is inclined to change constituencies frequently. His joining the BJP would be a blessing for the party as his brother-in-law Matbar Singh Kandari who won the seat seven times as BJP candidate till 2012 joined Congress in 2012 after his defeat at the hands of Harak.