Rebellion divides Cong on Garhwal, Kumaon line

SMA Kazmi & BD Kasniyal

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Tribune News Service

Dehradun/Pithoragarh, April 10

The rebellion by nine Congress legislators leading to the dismissal of the Harish Rawat-led Congress government in the state has virtually divided the Uttarakhand Congress on the lines of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, the traditional fault line of the state.

Eight of the nine Congress legislators who revolted against deposed Chief Minister Harish Rawat during the passage of the annual budget in the state Assembly on March 18 are from Garhwal.

Except Shailendra Mohan Singhal, who belong to the Terai region of Kumaon, all other rebel Congress legislators are from the Garhwal region. This divide indicates the working style of Harish Rawat which antagonised Garhwal Congress legislators.

Though Rawat managed to garner support of the party legislators from Kumaon, most of the Congress legislators owe their personal allegiance to him. Some of the legislators are personally related to the deposed Chief Minister who hails from Almora district and represents the Dharchula Assembly segment of Pithoragarh while others who are not amongst his close aides have decided to stick with the Congress.

Even his known detractors like Yashpal Arya and Madan Bisht could not muster courage to get out of the Congress and oppose Harish Rawat in Kumaon region.

Harish Rawat who has been carefully nurturing his own base in Kumaon region with close family members and supporters has emerged as the tallest leader with the eclipse of former Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari. Rawat, who emerged as the rising star of the party in 1980, was bitterly opposed by Tiwari in Kumaon region and lost consecutive elections in the 90’s due to emergence of the BJP following the Ram Mandir agitation.

Rawat has been able to have his complete sway over Congress politics with the exit of ND Tiwari after the defeat of the Congress in 2007 state Assembly poll.

The decision of the senior party leader from Garhwal, Satpal Maharaj, to leave the Congress protesting the elevation of Harish Rawat as the Chief Minister in place of Vijay Bahuguna in February 2014, left the field open for him to control the Congress politics in Garhwal region.

The remnant of the Tiwari group led by former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna with Harak Singh Rawat has left the entire Garhwal region without any senior Congress leader.

Some of the followers of Satpal Maharaj, namely Rajinder Bhandari, Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri and Jeet Ram, have no option but to stick to the Congress. Similarly, two powerful ministers Indira Hridayesh and Pritam Singh, although unhappy with the Harish Rawat style of functioning, have sided with him. Some of the Vijay Bahuguna supporters like Vijaypal Sajwan and Rajkumar have also decided to go with the Congress rather than plunging into an uncertain political future with rebels.