Rahul Gandhi’s visit will strengthen CM’s hands

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 24

The visit of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to Kedarnath is expected to strengthen the hands of Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

He has been looking out for some sort of endorsement from the Central leadership on the work done to revive the Char Dham Yatra and also give a clear message to the country that after carrying out massive rebuilding exercise, the Char Dham Yatra is on course.

Significantly, Harish Rawat is also known to be close to Rahul Gandhi at whose behest the reins of Uttarakhand were handed over to him from Vijay Bahuguna a year ago. It is the first visit of Rahul Gandhi to a holy shrine in Uttarakhand after Rawat became the Chief Minister.

When Rahul Gandhi had gone on a mystery holiday, his supporters had posted his old images to indicate that the Gandhi scion was in Uttarakhand. However, the pictures were of his earlier visit to Uttarkashi.

Further, in the face of the BJP’s charge of tardy reconstruction work, the visit by Rahul Gandhi has definitely proved to be a shot in the arm for the Chief Minister and the Congress. “I was able to persuade Rahul Gandhi to come and visit Uttarakhand and pay obeisance at the Kedarnath temple. He accepted the invitation on behalf of our people. For me personally, the moment will remain memorable as during the lifetime of Indira Gandhiji, I had accompanied her to the Badrinath shrine on foot,” said the Chief Minister, while talking to The Tribune.

Earlier, the Chief Minister was in the process of finalising the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee when the Char Dham Yatra started on April 21. However, it could not materialise and now the President is expected to come to Uttarakhand in May.