Two senior Congress leaders including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj have categorically said that they didn’t wish to contest the lok Sabha election from Tehri and Garhwal respectively.
However, insiders believed that they have tried to shot gun against Chief Minister Harish Rawat but in reality they have been doing as part of pressure tactics. Maharaj said that Chief Minister had assured party high command that the party would definitely win three seats including two from Kumaon division i.e. Almora and Nainital and one from Garhwal division i.e. Haridwar.
It means remaining two seats namely Tehri and Garhwal will be fought by the candidate itself. Sources said that both leaders will be fielded by the party high command on their respective seat because currently each seat is important for party. Talking to media persons, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that this was common incident in every household so no need to get panic. He further said that their grievances would be addressed by the party shortly.
Sources said that senior leaders have realised that party was going to face anti incumbency during general election-2014 so they wanted to field their ward as a candidate on their respective seats.
Three MPs including CM Rawat, ex CM Vijay Bahuguna and Satpal Maharaj, who had won Haridwar, Tehri and Garhwal lok Sabha seat in general election-2009, have been lobbying to filed their wards from their respective seats. For instance, CM Rawat wanted to field either his son Anand Rawat or daughter Anupama Rawat, Vijay Bahuguna wanted to field his son Saket Bahuguna and Satpal Maharaj wanted ticket for his son Shradhey Maharaj.
Interestingly, former CM Bahuguna had fielded his son Saket Bahuguna from Tehri lok Sabha seat in bypolls and lost the seat by more than 22,000 votes with BJP candidate Mala Rajya lakshmi Shah in October 2012. With this by-poll BJP, which could not open their account in general election-2009, had managed to open one out of five lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand.
Talking to The Pioneer, BJP leader and leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt said that two Congress leaders had denied contesting lok Sabha election because they had realised that they would not stand in the whirlwind of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Now it is clear that they have accepted moral defeat with BJP.