While the Congress high command defers its official declaration of candidates for the five lok Sabha seats in the State, there are signs of factionalism in the party which could become more obvious after the declaration of Congress candidates’ names.
Sources stated that the party high command has finalised Congress candidates from three seats but is still trying to decide on its candidates for Haridwar and Tehri lok Sabha constituencies.Political observers felt that factionalism might rise in the Congress once the party candidates from all the five constituencies are declared officially. Congress State spokesman Dhirendra Pratap has sought the party ticket to contest the election from Garhwal seat.
In his recent reminder addressed to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Pratap has stated, “There are rumours all around about the party thinking to field lt Gen (retd) Gambhir Singh Negi from Garhwal though he has no track record of party services. It will be most unfortunate if he is given the ticket as he is bound to lose this election by a humiliating margin. There is the possibility of him following former Garhwal MP from Congress Satpal Maharaj’s stance and quit the party after getting party nomination as his name was proposed by none other than Maharaj,” he said.
While Pratap is confident that lt Gen (retd) Negi would lose the election to BJP candidate and former CM Maj Gen (retd) BC Khanduri, sources state that Negi would be fielded by the Congress from Garhwal.
In another development which has exposed differences within the Congress, former State cabinet minister Hira Singh Bisht recently questioned the organisation of a labourer’s meet by the party leaders including INTUC chief Dinesh Sundriyal. Bisht has alleged that the organisation headed by Sundriyal is neither the Indian National Trade Union Congress nor related to it but another organisation entirely. Following his statement, a meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee was chaired by the PCC vice president Suryakant Dhasmana.
During the meeting, a warning was issued to party leaders in Uttarakhand who are making statements against the State government and party with Dhasmana terming Bisht’s statement unfortunate. He alleged that Bisht had not been contributing to the organisation for quite some time now. Observers opine that such differences have not yet evidently assumed serious proportions but could escalate after the Congress declares its candidates for the Parliamentary elections.