29 March 2024 | Gajendra Singh Negi | Dehradun
Tiger tamed?
The battle-hardened, seasoned politician Harak Singh Rawat is conspicuous by his absence from the ongoing poll battle in the Himalayan State. Interestingly, in a political career spanning four decades, it is for the first time that the indomitable leader remains untouched by the heat and dust of the electoral battleground. This is despite the fact that the Congress leadership is keen to push him into the campaign trail for three Lok Sabha constituencies of the Garhwal region, given the support he still enjoys here. Not quite inexplicably, Rawat is keeping a ‘studied’ distance from the poll scene. With the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head in the form of Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in connection with Corbett Tiger Reserve, the ‘tiger of Garhwal’-the title given to him by his adorers- has chosen to put faith in the proverb ‘discretion is the better part of valour’. What will be his next move remains murky, but the decision of his daughter -in- law Anukriti Gusain to resign from the Congress is also being touted as an attempt by the troubled leader to save himself from ED’s wrath.
Godiyal’s gauntlet
The positive public response the Congress candidate Ganesh Godiyal has been eliciting in Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency and the huge, enthusiastic crowd of supporters that had gathered in Pauri on Wednesday when Godiyal filed his nomination papers has jolted the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand. Considering the constituency being known as an almost impregnable saffron citadel, its national chief spokesman Anil Baluni decided to enter the contest from here. The Congress was further decimated here when the BJP was able to rope in Manish Khanduri, the son of BJP stalwart Maj Gen (retd) BC Khanduri, who had unsuccessfully contested from the seat in 2019 into its fold. In such a scenario, Garhwal was being considered as the safest bet for BJP and Baluni. But things have changed once Godiyal-armoured by his son of the soil image-plunged into the campaign scene with steely determination to give Baluni a good run for his money. His sarcastic, sharp barbs to project his rival as parachuted nominee seem to be enjoyed by the electorate. Plus, he is pulling out all the stops to tap into discontentment of the youngsters on Agnipath scheme and trying to strike an emotional chord by raking up the Ankita Bhandari murder case. It would be interesting to observe how suave and highly resourceful Baluni responds to the challenge thrown by Godiyal.
Flip-flop Pandey
In an interesting political somersault, Bhawana Pandey who had entered the battle of Haridwar Lok Sabha on a BSP ticket landed in BJP’s lap. This volte –face from Pandey within four days of joining the party infuriated the BSP supremo Mayawati who retaliated by removing the state in- charge Naresh Gautam who had played a key role in the entry of Pandey in BSP and fielding Jamil Ahmed Kasmi, a former MLA from Meerapur assembly constituency of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, from Haridwar. The political circles are amused by Pandey’s turnaround and her flippant behaviour which shocked Mayawati who is herself a political maverick par excellence. However, Trivendra Singh Rawat, the BJP candidate from Haridwar, seems to have the last laugh in the entire episode as BSP’s last minute replacement as a Muslim candidate is expected to eat into Congress votes, making things easier for him.
