Making it amply clear that he would not soften his stance towards the Congress even after the Harish Rawat Government was sent packing through the imposition of the President’s Rule, Congress legislator from Khanpur block of Roorkee Kumwar Pranav Singh Champion said on Monday that their rebellion was the outcome of long-pent up grievances against the Harish Rawat dispensation. Another rebel MlA from Roorkee, Pradeep Batra said they would support BJP if the latter moves to form the government.
Champion termed the rebellion from within the party a revolution. “ It was a revolution, not just a rebellion,” he said, holding the nonchalance of the party’s national top brass vis-à-vis their long-continued grievances responsible for the mess Congress in the State has plunged itself into. “It is not for any financial benefit that we have rebelled against the CM. It is a revolution of the people, by the people and for the people in a true spirit of democracy,” he averred. “We would move High Court, challenging our disqualification by the Speaker. Besides, we would reach out to the electorate, explaining our stance regarding the crisis,” he said while speaking to The Pioneer.
When asked to explain why they had chosen to be mum for too long a time before they raised the banner of revolt, he said they had been appealing to the high command over the past one and a half year. “We asked them to end the ‘Rakshas Raj’ continuing in the State. But we were not given appointments,” he said. “The Harish Rawat government was engaged in promoting mafia Raj. CM kept cold-shouldering us. Things turning intolerable, we took recourse to the revolution,” he said.