The day of the Rajya Sabha election inching closer, the political cauldron is on the boil again. This, a few days after things settled down to quietness with the restoration of Harish Rawat as the CM of Uttarakhand.
Political analysts say the situation is turning volatile again with BJP leader Satpal Maharaj latching on to his loyal MlAs from the Congress. They failed their mentor during the crucial floor test as their future looked uncertain in case they went for the switch. Besides, embattled Harish Rawat appeased them with a string of assurances. Things taking wings again, Harish Rawat’s cryptic comment that the politicians here nurture bigger ambitions though they hail from a small State stands vindicated.
With eggs on its face in the aftermath of the floor test debacle, BJP is now desperately trying to wriggle out of the bind by turning the tables on its principal political foe, Harish Rawat. To give him sleepless nights, the saffron party seems toying with the idea of fielding its stalwart Satpal Maharaj as its candidate for the biennial election. Though the State party leadership keeps things closer to its chest those privy to the developments say that such a possibility is high.
However, things are not very encouraging for Maharaj. Though he had boasted before the floor test that he would be able to win over the loyal Congress MlAs to the saffron side he failed to conjure up the miracle. But, his rival in the saffron camp, Udham Singh Nagar MP and former CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari, on the other hand, pulled up a rabbit out of his hat in the person of Rekha Arya, the Congress MlA from Someshawar who cross-voted to a little comfort of the frustrated BJP camp.
Knowing well that Satpal Maharaj has the mettle to throw gauntlet to redoubtable Harish Rawat, the State BJP leadership is learnt to be pressuring the party high command to zero in on him as the party’s RS nominee.
Things might turn interesting if the BJP brass clears his name. Once this happens Satpal Maharaj who is said to enjoy a considerable clout among the people and the lawmakers, cutting across the political spectrum, would plunge headlong into weaning away at least three loyal MlAs from the Congress to his side during the RS voting. Congress has reasons to feel tense as these three MlAs from Chamoli district- Rajendra Bhandari, Prof Jeet Ram and Dr Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri-did not beat about the bush while stating their loyalty to Maharaj during the uncertain time preceding the floor test. They acknowledged the fact openly that they had learnt the art of politics from Maharaj. They had further stated that refusing anything that their mentor asked for made their conscience prick.
Things would depend on whether Harish Rawat would go for Cabinet expansion and whether one of the trio- Rajendra Bhadari, would be inducted. He has been nurturing a grudge being denied a Cabinet berth after he was elected on a Congress ticket in 2012 Assembly election. To buttress his claim, he cites the fact that he was a member of the State Cabinet for 2007-12 when he was an independent MlA.
However, as things stand now, the possibility of his induction is slim, given the fact that MlA from VIkasnagar Navprabhat is supposed to be way ahead of him in the race for cabinet berth. Navprabhat is justified in his claim too as he lent unflinching support to the embattled Rawat during the latter’s worst political crisis.
There are two berths vacant-one vacated by the exit of Harak Singh Rawat, one of the nine rebel MlAs, and the other by the death of Surendra Rakesh of BSP which is a member of the PDF. Having six MlAs in its kitty, PDF is learnt to be flexing its muscles to have a berth ensured for it. If Rawat buckles under its pressure and inducts a PDF MlA in his Cabinet it would send the Congress MlAs into fumes. This would be justified too, given the fact that with the induction of another, the number of ministers from PDF would rise up to five.
The best option left to Harish Rawat, say the political analysts, is to keep the expansion hang in fire till the RS election is over. In that case, he would continue to flaunt the carrot before the aspirants.
“But what compounds Rawat’s predicament is that the MlAs from his party are well-acquainted with the machinations the CM is an adept in. They have seen through him and it is unlikely that the same crafty game would carry the day again for Rawat. And this is where the BJP has its advantage vis-à-vis the ensuing RS election if it falls back on Satpal Maharaj to salvage the party’s prestige lost in the bog of floor test humiliation,” says an analyst.