Eyes on the general election 2019, the veteran Congress leader and the former Chief Minister Harish Rawat is all set to embark on Ganga Ganna Yatra from Thursday.
However, the ruling BJP party is quick to take a dig at the veteran and dubbed the proposed yatra as a desperate poll plank resorted to a leader who has lost his connect with the people of the state.
Amid the preparations for the high-stake general election 2019, the former chief minister Harish Rawat is set to move into the poll mode with the yatra from Jhabreda, determined to woo the farmers and the Ganga lovers at the same time through championing the cause of both. His rally would start from Jhabreda and culminate at the fabled Har Ki Paidi.
While Congress supporters are excited over his rally, hoping it would help the opposition party build a robust connect with the people of the district, in general, and the farmers, in particular, ahead of the crucial election, BJP, on the other hand, predict that it would end up being a damp squib which would peter out without creating even a small ripple in the people’s mind.
Speaking to The Pioneer, a district Congress leader Rao Afaq Ali said, “The warm support Harish Rawat has been receiving from the people from all walks of life of the district clearly indicates the current flowing strongly in his favour. They are excited over the rally. The massive participation of the people would show which way the wind is blowing.” Quizzed over the factional bickering gnawing the state party unit, he said that Rawat is head and shoulders above his peers in the state party.
“He is now a national level Congress leader as part of the Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s team. Nobody in the state Congress is near him in terms of stature,” he added.
However, BJP leader Om Prakash Jamdagni, close to the Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, said dismissively that Harish Rawat had no mettle left in him now as a leader. “His wife was humbled in the 2014 election from here when he was the CM of the state. He has been deserted by the state Congress chief. None of the MLAs and the former MLAs cared to attend the programme recently organised on his behalf. Things are clear that he has lost his connect with the people,” he added.