Harish Rawat fights a solitary battle

Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 19

Chief Minister Harish Rawat faces the toughest test of his politcal career as he fights a solitary battle not against the BJP but also his once trusted colleagues, who are now teamed up against him.

With these colleagues having joined the BJP, it’s a do-or-die battle for the Congress veteran. An electoral loss could have a decisive impact on his political career, particularly after the exit of top Congress leaders such as Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj, Yashpal Arya and the latest being stalwart ND Tiwari.

All of them have left the Congress expressing their displeasure against the working of Harish Rawat describing him as an autocratic leader. He has now been cornered by everyone.

Harish Rawat became the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand at a time when the Congress was completely dispirited after the Lok Sabha poll debacle. The Congress had suffered one of its worst defeats at the Centre since Independence. Even in Uttarakhand, the Congress lost all five parliamentary seats and that too with huge margins.

A demoralised Congress was of the opinion that the Modi wave will continue for years and wipe out the Congress in Uttarakhand as it did at the Centre.

But Rawat ably steered the Congress to victory both in the Assembly and panchayat elections that were subsequently held in Uttarkhand post 2014 parliamentary elections.

Harish Rawat ensured Congress win in all three Assembly seats. Of the three Assembly seats- Dharchula, Someshwar and Doiwala that went to bypoll, the biggest success for the Congress came from the Doiwala assembly seat where the party won after the gap of over two decades.

While Chief Minister Harish Rawat himself won from Dharchula, Rekha Arya won from the Someshwar seat while Hira Singh Bisht won from the Doiwala seat.

But he was in for a shock when he faced a rebellion among his own legislators. While many then thought that it was all over for Congress now, he survived. The way he handled the rebellion of his legislators revealed his last-minute ability to work against odds and thus tilting the scales in his side.

A confidant Harish Rawat has identified himself as a not-out batsman signalling a hope for his return. Rawat is totally banking on development works, encashing on rising rebellion in opposition ranks and his positioning as the Chief Minister to sail through the Assembly elections.

He did come up with several of innovative schemes. Schemes like Hamarey Ped Hamara Dhan Yojana, Hamara Charaghah, Gay Ganga Yojana and other grassroot policy initiatives have been very popular in rural areas.

“If he wins, he will be an undisputed leader of Uttarakhand and also emerge stronger within the Congress party at the national level and a loss could also mean an end to his career,” says political analyst Jay Singh Rawat, who has been following Rawat for several decades now. He does not rule out the Congress managing to encash on BJP’s follies in the tickets distribution that has resulted in large-scale rebellion in the BJP ranks.