long standing fissures in the Congress in Uttarakhand are becoming more evident at a time when the Congress-led State Government is aiming to deliver on the party’s electoral promises in time for the Vidhan Sabha election to be held in 2017.
The differences of opinions among Congress leaders was recently brought to the fore again when Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat questioned the possibility of Gairsain being made the State Capital. Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay has said that the party could take disciplinary action against its leaders who repeatedly make public statements contradicting the official party line.
Observers point out that Chief Minister Harish Rawat will have to tackle challenges posed by factionalism in the party and the persistent demand made by the PCC chief for replacing Cabinet Ministers of alliance partner Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) with Congress MlAs.
It is pertinent to mention here that Congress leaders including State Ministers Indira Hridayesh and Harak Singh Rawat have from time to time openly expressed different opinions over the permanent State Capital. On the other hand, the Pradesh Congress Committee and party leaders including the Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal have maintained that Gairsain should be made the State capital. Recently, Harak Singh Rawat had caused a stir by stating that those talking of establishing the capital in Gairsain were telling a lie. Objecting to this, the PCC chief reiterated that the Congress is committed to establishment of the State capital in Gairsain as envisioned during the Statehood movement. Warning the party members to desist from making public statements contradicting the party line, Upadhyay also said that the major task of establishing Gairsain as State capital would take some time as the required infrastructural development cannot be achieved in a short period.
Political observers point out that the party leadership maintains its stance of the Congress remaining united with its leaders expressing differences democratically but factionalism remains an open secret.
Recently, the Sitarganj MlA and ex-CM Vijay Bahuguna had also communicated with the CM on organisational issues which once again elicited focus on discontent in the Congress due to continued presence of PDF MlAs in the Cabinet. As the Congress-led Government also focuses on executing electoral claims on time to benefit in the 2017 Assembly elections, factors like the issue of State capital, factionalism and the Cabinet berth lying vacant since the demise of Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh last year might pose problems for the Congress especially with the main Opposition party BJP looking to capitalise on them.