Friday, 24 December 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The centre of the political storm in Uttarakhand Congress generated by tweets of former chief minister Harish Rawat has now shifted to New Delhi. The party high command has summoned Rawat and all other top leaders of the state Congress to Delhi on Friday. On the directive of the party high command Rawat, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Uttarakhand assembly Pritam Singh left for New Delhi on Thursday evening. The party leadership has also called former PCC president Kishore Upadhyaya, working president Ranjit Rawat, Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta and other leaders.
Meanwhile Rawat, whose three tweets whipped up a political storm in the Congress on Wednesday and provided ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to attack Congress, softened his stand on Thursday. Rawat said that his tweet was a routine one and expressed his feelings. Rawat added that he had always been and would remain a dedicated soldier of the Congress. While Rawat appeared soft, his supporters remained vocal in advocacy for their leader. Training his guns on the in charge of the state Congress Devendra Yadav for deliberately ignoring Rawat, the vice president and spokesman of Uttarakhand Congress Surendra Kumar said that the role of the in charge should be of a mentor and guide. He said that some elements in the party are acting as agents of BJP in the party. The PCC president Ganesh Godiyal said Harish Rawat is the most popular leader of not only the Congress party but in the whole of the state and he deserves respect. He however accepted that there are some issues in the organisational set up of the party which would be rectified.
Rawat heated up the political environment with his tweets on Wednesday. In one of his tweets, Harish Rawat wrote that instead of extending a helping hand the organisational setup is either playing a negative role or not cooperating in many places during the ongoing electoral battle. In an apparent attack on the role of high command and his detractors in the party Rawat said that the many crocodiles have been left in the sea in which he is swimming.
He further added that the representatives of those on whom orders he would swim are tying his limbs. In a clear indication that he has got exasperated by the situation Rawat said at times the idea of taking retirement surfaces in his mind.
