Recently former CM Harish Rawat shared a post on his facebook account in which he mentioned about plight of a young woman whose brother had become addicted to substance abuse and the devastating effect on his family. Rawat declared that he would start a campaign against drugs from August 15 by taking out an awareness rally at Haldwani. The former CM has made no mention of any involvement of Congress party in the campaign. In the past also, the detractors of Harish Rawat within the Congress party blamed him for neglecting the party and pursuing his own agenda. Another senior Congress leader and former PCC President Kishore Upadhyaya is moving ahead on his agenda of forest rights for the people of the state. He is pursuing the issue from last two years and touring the state extensively. Recently PCC chief Pritam Singh had taken a dig at Kishore for moving ahead on the agenda of Forest rights.
Not to be left behind, the Vice President of state Congress Jot Singh Bisht supported by another senior leader Mathura Dutt Joshi are engrossed complexly on the issue of Panchayat raj amendment recently brought by the state government. The duo believes that there is resentment on the amendments like setting up minimum education qualification criteria and the two child norm for the Panchayat elections.
Bisht has even formed district and block level committees for carrying forward his mission further.
When asked by The Pioneer whether he has taken permission from the party to move ahead on his plan in protest of the Panchayati raj amendment act, Bisht said, “ I don’t need anyone permission. Everyone knows by commitment to the Panchayats and I will continue to fight for the cause.’’