The show of unity shown by different factions of Congress party in the ‘Laltain Yatra’ held at Haldwani recently appeard to fizzle down at Bharadisain on Monday when only six MLAs including the leader of opposition Indira Hridayesh attended the meeting of Congress parliamentary board.
The Dharchula MLA, Harish Dhami exposed divisions in the party when he claimed that he was not invited in the meeting. He said that he was earlier informed that the meeting of the Congress parliamentary board would be organised at 2 PM and he had arrived in his room at MLA hostel at around 11.30 am.
Dhami said that the meeting was later postponed to 4 pm but he was not informed about the meeting. In the meeting of the parliamentary board, strategy of the party during the session is discussed and absence of as many as five MLAs clearly showed that all is not well in the grand old party.
Apart from Indira Hridayesh, the meeting was attended by Govind Singh Kunjwal, deputy leader of the Congress legislative party Karan Mahra, Qazi Nizzamuddin, Adesh Singh Chauhan and Rajkumar.
It is pertinent to mention here that on February 26, the state unit of Congress party had organised a massive public meeting at start of Laltain Yatra.
In this rally a good chemistry between chief minister Harish Rawat, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Pritam Singh and LoP Indira Hridayesh was observed which had enthused the party cadre of Congress party.
But it appears that old divisions in the party have again come to fore just ahead of the crucial budget session of the assembly. It is a well known fact that the Congress in Uttarakhand is a divided house.
The party leaders are divided into the factions led by former CM Harish Rawat and combined camp of PCC chief Pritam Singh and LoP Indira Hridayesh. Former PCC chief Kishore Upadhyaya also leads a faction of the party.