With Amit Shah’s visit, BJP to sound poll bugle in state

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 20

After the high-voltage political drama in the state that left it embarrassed in more than one ways, the BJP is all set to re-launch its political pitch for Uttarakhand with two events of party president Amit Shah.

A public rally in Haridwar on June 25 and a “karyakarta sammelan”, a state executive meeting, in Haldwani on the following day will set the tone for the poll preparations.

Party leaders say Shah’s programme has been drawn keeping in mind several factors and political combinations. On the first day of his two-day programme, he will visit Kedarnath and Badrinath — the important Hindu temples that form part of the pilgrim circuit Char Dham in the Himalayas. The other two sites in the circuit are Gangotri and Yamunotri.

In the evening, he will be in Haridwar — another important pilgrimage site of Uttarakhand — to sound the political bugle for the 2017 Assembly polls. The party has planned a “massive rally” which state leaders are going all out to turn into a “massive success”.

Day after on June 26, Shah will be in Haldwani — a part of the Kumoan region, which also happens to be the key area of incumbent Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Apparently, the people in Kumaon region have “great sympathy” for Rawat, who is from Pithoragarh. They blame saffron leaders for “engineering a rebellion” against Rawat with the help of Congress rebels, destabilising the state and imposing the President’s rule there.

Seemingly, all recent political tribulations in the state have not just helped Rawat gain political sympathy but also re-emerge as undisputed leader of the Congress’ state unit. He has become his party’s most visible face — someone who may now be in a position to give the BJP a good fight despite losing all five Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and a massive anti-incumbency.