Amidst recurring expressions of differences within the Congress especially on the status being accorded in the State Government to the party’s alliance partner Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) leaders, the Pradesh Congress Committee secretary and coordinator of the organisation programme, Girish Chandra Puneda has condemned reported statements of PDF leaders while also stressing that “as a dedicated and sincere worker of the Congress Party, he had the right to address some questions to the head of the State Government”.
Raising questions like the reason for retaining independent MlAs as members of the State cabinet especially as they were not going to be fielded in the Vidhan Sabha election in 2017 on the party ticket, Puneda has also questioned the Chief Minister regarding “attempts being made to bring in leaders from other parties in the constituencies of the independent MlAs and turncoats despite there being party members fit for candidacy with good chances of electoral win who had also worked consistently in the area for about four years now".
Puneda stated on Monday, “The State Government ministers have made their position clear to the Chief Minister Harish Rawat and PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay. It is now up to the party leadership in Uttarakhand to clear the situation in order to resolve the confusion and dilemma being experienced by the party workers.” He goes on to state, “The party workers and public of Uttarakhand are aware of PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay’s clear opinion regarding the loud talking PDF leaders. All are aware about the PCC chief’s consistent stand aimed at protecting the interests of party cadre. As a dedicated party worker, I have full right to address some questions to the State Government head. Why are independent MlAs still being retained in the State cabinet even though they are not going to contest the 2017 assembly election on the party ticket with their loyalty to the party also being questionableIJ Why is the burden of such independent MlAs being carried in the cabinet in a scenario wherein even if they win the election by some chance, they would not hesitate to go to the Bharatiya Janata Party,” remarked Puneda. He further questioned why, despite repeated requests by the Congress party organisation, was the status of constituencies of the PDF MlAs and turncoats not being clarified though it is perpetuating confusion among the party office bearers, workers and members of the public.
While existence of factionalism is routinely denied by the Congress leadership, Puneda alleges that "due to internal factionalism, attempts are being made to bring in leaders from outside the party instead of the sincere party workers who have been working for the past four years in constituencies of PDF MlAs and the turncoats and stand a chance of winning the election".
Is is pertinent to mention here that PDF member cabinet minister Mantri Prasad Naithani and Dinesh Dhanai have on more than one occasion been told by PCC office bearers to refrain from commenting on internal organisational matters of the Congress. The PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay has often stressed on according importance to Congress MlAs instead of making them “feel neglected” in favour of PDF MlAs in the State cabinet. Observers point out that the Chief Minister’s hectic efforts aimed at strengthening the scope for Congress achieving the upper hand in the 2017 assembly elections are likely to be affected detrimentally if the discontent caused by issues related to PDF are not resolved with clear and decisive measures in time to prevent further damage to the organisational strength of the Congress in Uttarakhand.