The sudden passing away of Manorma Dobriyal Sharma, former Rajya Sabha MP, has quickened the pace of the ongoing political tussle in the State Congress. Her death has caused a vacancy in the Rajya Sabha where she had been elected with the party High Command's blessing in November last. It is well-known how former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had jockeyed for the seat and how incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat had pulled out all the stops to stonewall his bête noir getting the party's nod for the Upper House seat.
Now with things having returned to square one, the coming days would prove challenging for Rawat with Bahuguna being all set to stake his claim again. Rawat would have to frame a new strategy to keep his arch rival at bay. The High Command would, of course, take the final call. With the electorate of Delhi having exterminated the grand old party in the national Capital's legislature, the party's top brass would have to weigh the pros and cons carefully before deciding things.
Ironically, a post in the Cabinet lying vacant following the recent death of Minister Surendra Rakesh, Rawat is already facing a challenge to fill it with the formidable Bahuguna faction stepping up pressure on him to have its own men inducted. As his wont, the wily CM is keeping things hanging fire. Bahuguna is supposed to be still nursing his wounds inflicted by Rawat who adroitly had foisted Manorma Sharma Dobriyal on the scene - a master stroke that tumbled all calculations upside down.
Bahuguna had, meanwhile, retrieved some of his lost ground by way of his letter bomb sent to the High Command, stating circuitously that he would quit the party in case the top brass kept on pandering to Rawat. He had also met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi along with his sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
During the meeting, he had asked Gandhi to force Harish Rawat to induct the MlAs loyal to him, Subodh Uniyal and Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal - into the Cabinet. Raising the contentious PDF issue that keeps on festering in a section of the party leaders and rank and file, he had defended the idea of ridding the ministry of the conglomerate to pave way for accommodation of party MlAs in the Ministry.
He had said the arithmetic is favourably poised for the Congress with the party having secured a simple majority in the Assembly. The PDF with its bag of six MlAs thus had ceased to be indispensable for the the Congress Government's survival in case of a floor test, he had argued. Seemingly rattled with Bahuguna's round-about quit threat, the High Command had summoned Harish Rawat to Delhi and asked him to induct Subodh Uniyal into the Cabinet.
Things further moved after the Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh died early this month. This provided the beleaguered CM to defer things, citing the post-death rituals of the deceased minister. However, with the death of Manorma Dobriyal Sharma, Bahuguna faction is all set to bare fangs.
Sources said that Bahuguna met his loyal MlAs at his residence on February 18. Interestingly, MlA Subodh Uniyal deemed close to Bahuguna participated in Manorma's funeral too on Thursday. “Things would start moving again after the period of mourning is over with the possibility of both the factions engaged again in saber rattling,” said an observer.