The factional squabbles in the Bharatiya Janata Party State unit came to the fore again on Wednesday when the crucial Election Committee meeting was being held in Delhi to decide the candidates’ list for the State at the initiative of the party’s national president Amit Shah as the party veteran, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar MP and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari was persuaded to fly to Delhi after he refused to go. It is learnt from the party insiders that he was annoyed with the party high command having resolved to give nomination to Bhupesh Upadhyay for Kapkot Assembly constituency in Bageswar district in the Kumaon region. It is considered as part of his 'fiefdom' being a constituent of the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar Parliamentary constituency he is the MP from.
Besides, he represented the seat in the Assembly till 2008 , the year he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. “Upadhyay hails from Garhwal. Besides, he is very close to the former CM Vijay Bahuguna who recently switched to BJP from Congress. He is also close to senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya,” said an insider. After a lot of persuasion from the party high command, Koshyari came to Dehradun airport from Kapkot and boarded a chartered flight to reach Delhi. Party insiders say that Koshyari’s control over Kumaon division is supposedly 'indisputable'. “He proved his clout during the time the state was under the President’s Rule. He succeeded in poaching a Congress MlA Rekha Arya, elected from Someshwar seat during a by-poll held in July 2014, as she switched to the saffron side on the eve of the crucial floor test on May 10 2016,” said one of the party insiders.
Observers say that cold- shouldering Koshyari might cost the party hard particularly in the Kumaon region. “The projected Garhwal-Kumaon divide remaining a focal point of the electoral strategies of the rival camps, it would be suicidal to make him sulk as he is the only recognized face of the party in the important region being a formidable Thakur community leader. Notably, Harish Rawat who is the Congress’s CM face is also from Kumaon and a Thakur leader,” said an observer. There is another feather in Koshyari’s cap. He succeeded in drawing huge crowds for two of the three Parivartan Yatra rallies addressed by Amit Shah- Almora and Haldwani, both in Kumaon region and within Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar lok Sabha constituency. “The turnout in Dehardun was much less than the gathering at these two places.
Overwhelmed by the impressive turnout at the two rallies in Kumaon, Shah generously showered praise on Koshyari,” said an observer. Koshyari’s importance in the BJP has grown all the more in view of the fact that Harish Rawat has been trying to tickle the Kumaon psyche to create a kind of sympathy wave for him. He is trying to impress upon the electorate there, saying that the MlAs from Garhwal had ganged up to bring down his ministry.