Minister of state for higher education and cooperative, Dhan Singh Rawat played a key role in managing the rebellion of Guddu lal and Balbir Ghuniyal thus making things easier for the official BJP candidate Munni Devi in Tharali assembly by- elections. Guddu lal who till a day before was threatening to contest the elections changed his mind at the last moment and was seen with the BJP leaders during the filing of nomination papers of Munni Devi and the election meeting held shortly after. Another prominent leader Balbeer Ghuniyal who too had tendered his resignation to the state party president when the name of Munni Devi was declared, also failed to file his nomination papers on the day. He reportedly fell ill on Wednesday.
The leadership of the BJP was wary of the prospects of Guddu lal and Ghuniyal entering the electoral fray and reportedly assigned Dhan Singh Rawat the task of managing these two local party leaders. Guddu lal had fetched an impressive 7089 votes in the assembly election of 2017 as an independent candidate. In the election he had stood third behind BJP candidate Magan lal Shah and Jeet Ram of Congress. Guddu lal enjoys considerable support in the Ghat Block of Tharali assembly and he would have definitely eaten into the votes of the Munni Devi if contested. Balbir Ghuniyal on the other hand is a known leader in the area and has been associated with the party from his student days. From last three elections consequently he had been in contention for the party ticket from the area but has always lost the race.
The party insiders admit role of Dhan Singh who has an expertise in damage control missions in neutralising the rebellion of these two.
The central leadership of the party has reportedly directed the state leaders that the party should take the by- elections seriously as a defeat would sent wrong signals ahead of the parliamentary elections of 2019. The image of the Congress candidate Jeet Ram and the fact that there is no serious challenge to him with the organisation of Congress, state party leadership of BJP deputed Dhan Singh Rawat as the party in charge of the elections. Rawat has a very good track record of working in the party organization and is respected for his management skills. It is clear that by neutralising the threat of rebels contesting the elections and affecting the prospects of BJP candidate, Dhan Singh has passed his first test of Tharali assembly by- elections.