Tuesday, 04 October 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Haridwar Panchayat polls debacle
The dismal performance of the Congress supported candidates in just concluded three tier Panchayat elections in Haridwar has again brought the fissure lines in the party to the fore. On Monday the senior leader of the party and former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh questioned the prolonged absence of the in-charge of the State Congress, Devendra Yadav from Uttarakhand. Interacting with the media persons, the former PCC president who is also a six time MLA said that the in-charge is missing from the scene. He said that it is a fact that the Congress party lost the Assembly elections but it does not mean that we should become disheartened. Singh said that victory and loss are the two sides of a coin. He said that brainstorming sessions involving senior leaders and the candidates of the party in Assembly polls should have been held to find out reasons for the defeat of the party but it didn’t happen. Singh said that the party didn’t fight the Panchayat elections in Haridwar in a united manner due to which it performed dismally in the polls. He added that many leaders left the party before the elections but no effort was made to persuade them or listen to their grievances.
In the recently concluded Panchayat elections the Congress party performed poorly with only five of its candidates being able to register victory out of 44 seats of district Panchayat. The ruling BJP supported candidates won in 14 seats and its leadership was able to lure 14 independents and others to its side after which the party is now comfortably placed to get its candidate elected to the prestigious post of district Panchayat president. On Sunday the Congress suffered a jolt when the son and daughter of the Bhagwanpur MLA Mamta Rakesh joined the BJP in presence of BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt, Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank and others.
The importance of Haridwar for the Congress party can be gauged from the fact that in the recent Assembly elections it was able to secure victory in five out of 11 assembly seats in the district. The ruling BJP which romped home with a resounding two third victory in the Assembly election was able to win only three seats while the BSP candidates won from two seats. After the Assembly elections the BJP’s organisation geared up for the Panchayat polls and its leadership was able to lure a large number of leaders from other parties into its side. The Congress on the other hand could not capitalise on its gains in the Assembly polls and lost badly to BJP in Panchayat elections.
