Congress party cadre in Uttarakhand has divided into factions with one supporting the candidature of Mamta Rakesh in the Bhagwanpur Assembly bypolls while another faction believed that Satyapal Singh should have been fielded as the party candidate. According to party sources, the Congress’ Central leadership decided to field Mamta considering the sympathy wave expected for the widow of recently deceased Cabinet minister Surendra Rakesh’s to be a guarantee of victory. However, many party workers miffed at ‘outsider’ Raj Babbar being recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand on the Congress ticket, believed that Singh should have been the party candidate.
If sources are to be believed, the Congress views Singh as potentially a major hurdle on the path of Mamta’s victory. However, with BJP candidate Rajpal Singh also in the fray, the bypoll is presently being seen as a triangular contest between Mamta, Rajpal and Satyapal.
In the 2012 Assembly polls, Congress candidate Satyapal Singh had lost to BSP candidate Surendra Rakesh by 6,400 votes. After the recent death of Rakesh, Singh is considered to be the stronger candidate in this constituency. Sources aver that a faction in the Congress wanted Singh as the party candidate since he has been working for the party in the area for more than a decade and enjoys public support. However, another lobby of State Congress favour’s Mamta’s candidature expecting a sympathy wave to work in her favour.
Subodh Rakesh, younger brother of Surendra Rakesh was rejected as the party candidate due to his image among other factors. Talking to The Pioneer, Satyapal said that initially he had filed his nomination paper in the presence of District Congress president Rajendra Singh after taking consent from senior party leaders. “But the situation change on the next day, leaving me with no other option than contesting as an independent candidate due to considerable public pressure. The Congress has ditched apart from many party workers and supporters,” he alleged.
Observers stated that upper castes are not in a position to decisively influence the by-poll and the influential Dalit community is divided between Satyapal and Mamta. BJP as the ruling party at Centre is also exerting its full force behind its candidate Rajpal Singh with national level party leaders also expected to campaign for him. A total of eight candidates have filed nominations though at present Satyapal, Mamta and Rajpal are being seen as the main contenders.