The myth of the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat being invincible has already exploded. Now, serious questions are being raised in the State's political roost over his being an insightful politician. True, he gave troubled time to the two Chief Ministers of the State - ND Tiwari during 2002-07 and Vijay Bahuguna from March 2012 to January 2014, given his stupendous clout in the State party organization.
But now with the chair having deserted him, he is left forlorn with those belonging to his charmed circles thinking in terms of jumping the ship, sure in the knowledge that the downward curve of the redoubtable leader's political career is irreversible.
The political analysts believe that he is reaping the whirlwind of the wind he has himself sown. He allowed himself to get ensconced in an ivory tower, feeling that his redoubt in the State was impregnable. He left out those who were not close to him out in the cold while trashing the Opposition, underestimating the latter's capacity to pull the edifice down.
Things that consummated in his recent ouster from power started rolling on when he chose late Manorma Dobriyal Sharma as the Rajya Sabha candidate, giving short shrift to the long-nurtured aspiration of his predecessor Vijay Bahuguna.
Political analysts, however, said that Harish Rawat remained the same all through, crafty and ruthless in the Machiavellian sense to his opponents within, though taking pains to cover things under a veneer of sweet disposition.
As was his won’t, Rawat kept portfolio allocation among his cabinet colleagues hang in the balance for long after the Rawat ministry got saddled in power on February 1 2014 in the aftermath of the cataclysm 2013.
True, they enjoyed perks and facilities they were entitled to as Cabinet ministers.
However, they were vegetating, even rotting, shorn as they were of particular works to do. Harak Singh Rawat raised voice against the CM sitting on the matter, though others chose to exercise restraint. Finally, Rawat allocated portfolios to his ministers. Continued on Page 4
But even then, he made it a point that none of them had absolute sway over the ministries they were provided with.
For instance, Pritam Singh was given home, but he was shorn of the power to regulate the IPSs. Another Pritam Singh Panwar was made animal husbandry minister, but to abridge his authority, sheep rearing ministry was given to Surendra Rakesh and dairy development to Harish Chandra Durgapal. The same was the case with Harak Singh Rawat who was given charge of Sainik Kalyan while Surendra Singh Negi was given Ardh Sainik (paramilitary) Kalyan. While Yashpal Arya was given charge of irrigation the minor irrigation charge was given to Pritam Singh.
The State watchers were not surprised when the former CM was caught on camera on March 26, telling a middleman that he would part with the portfolios kept under his thumb and bestow these on the dissidents provided they came back.
Rawat's scheme not to allow Vijay Bahuguna to breathe easy after the latter was sworn in as the CM with the high command's blessing on March 12, 2012 became clear when two of his die-hard loyalists—Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion and Pradeep Batra —refused to take oath as MlAs. Now contrast this with the present situation when these two broke ranks with their former mentor and joined hands with Bahuguna and things come full circle in terms of retributive justice.
What is more, Harish Rawat prodded Bahuguna to appoint his staunch loyalist Govind Singh Kunjwal as the Speaker of Vidhan Sabha, a move that paid him handsome dividends later when the fire of rebellion engulfed his ministry.
Besides, he forced the Bahuguna dispensation to give Rajya Sabha nomination to an ex-MlA Mahendra Singh Mahra. This aside, he shoved three more loyalists - SS Negi, Dinesh Aggrawal and Pritam Singh - down the gullet of his arch-rival Bahuguna, forcing the latter to induct the trio in the cabinet.
Rawat made it a habit to shoot off missive bombs to Bahuguna to embarrass the latter, pinpointing non-functioning of his government. Finally, the cataclysm 2013 catapulted Rawat on the coveted seat he had been eying since Uttarakhand was carved out in November 2000.