Since Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Uttarakhand PCC president Kishore Upadhyaya left for Delhi, the capital remains abuzz with speculations that are centred around a possible reconstitution or reshuffle of the State Cabinet. “Things are still stuck in murkiness. However, it seems that the State party mandarins are now weighing two options-en masse resignation of the Cabinet to pave way for the constitution of a new one or inducting new faces while ridding the Cabinet of some of the incumbent Ministers. We have to wait for a few more days to have the air cleared,” said a State Congress insider.
It is learnt from those close to the CM and his coterie that the three Cabinet Ministers — one from Congress quota and the other two from PDF — might be asked to quit and four Congress MlAs might be inducted in their places. One Cabinet post has been lying vacant since the Transport Minister Surendra Rakesh died.
As things stand now given the present inner-party equations, there is a possibility that four MlAs — Ganesh Godiyal, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal and Subodh Uniyals — may be inducted into Cabinet provided three incumbent Cabinet Ministers can be persuaded to quit. Another speculation is also running rife in the State’s political circles that the Cabinet would quit en masse and a fresh one would come up.
State Congress watchers said former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna met AICC president Sonia Gandhi on May 22. Harish Rawat followed his arch rival soon. With intra-party bickering remaining synonymous with the Congress brand of politics, the observers moved to connect the two visits in terms of pressure and counter-pressure. However, the Harish Rawat camp poured cold water on the speculations running wild by saying that CM had visited Delhi just to attend the wedding of the daughter of the party veteran Digvijay Singh. later, he met Uttarakhand Congress in- charge Ambika Soni as courtesy visit. There was nothing hush- hush in the visit, those close to CM affirmed.
However, Rawat and Upadhyaya having gone to Delhi on May 25 May led to tongues wagging again on the visit’s political implications with things remaining volatile in the state party roost. CM has, however, returned to Dehradun on Tuesday evening. Thereafter he convened high level meeting to address electricity and drinking water woes.
Sources said that the faction opposed to CM keeps convincing the party top brass of the imperative of doing something. They are supposed to be using the stir launched by the head of an Ashram against the state government up to the hilt to embarrass CM.