With former Cabinet Minister and ex-MlA Kishore Upadhyaya being made the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president, the party is hoping that he will be able to facilitate a revival of the Congress in Uttarakhand. Upadhyaya has stated that his priority is to strengthen the party organisation especially in view of the panchayat polls being held in the State this month.
The Uttarakhand PCC spokesman Dhirendra Pratap has hailed this decision of the Congress high command. Pratap said that appointing Upadhyaya the PCC chief was a tribute to those who had participated in the Uttarakhand statehood movement because Upadhyaya was among the frontline leaders of the Uttarakhand movement. It is pertinent to mention that the previous Uttarakhand PCC chief and cabinet minister Yashpal Arya had resigned from the post of PCC chief last year but was told by the party high command to continue as its officiating chief in view of the recently concluded parliamentary polls. Due to the failure of Arya to focus on his responsibilities as the PCC chief, there was much talk within the party about the need for a dedicated PCC chief in order to improve the organisational condition of the Congress in Uttarakhand.
The various cells of the party are not active and recent rout suffered by Congress in the parliamentary polls has only exposed its organisational weakness in Uttarakhand. Upadhyaya along with CM Harish Rawat is credited of playing a crucial role in reviving the Congress in Uttarakhand in 2000-2002. Party supporters are hoping he will improve the condition of the Congress in the State.