Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat was sacked from his post and removed from the BJP on Sunday night, prompting him to say that “if Congress wasn’t winning earlier, it was definitely winning now” and that he will “now initiate talks” with the Congress.
Sources said he was all set to contest on a Congress ticket from Doiwala against former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said Mr. Rawat was trying to exert pressure on the BJP to give ticket to his family members, and that these tactics would not work on the party. “We are against ‘vanshwad’ [dynasty politics] and the party does not react to these pressure tactics,” he stated.
Mr. Harak Singh Rawat struck, an at times defiant, tearful note as he spoke to the media in New Delhi where he had been summoned by the BJP’s top leadership on Sunday and given his marching orders.
“The BJP acted on me on the basis of social media reports. They are not going to admit that they did not allow me to work, did not grant a medical college in Kotdwar, instead they are citing that I will be joining the Congress. The only thing I asked of Prahlad Joshi was that I was not keen to fight polls and to consider my daughter-in-law [Anukriti Gosain] from Landsdowne seat. I know all about the leaders of the BJP, iss hamam main sab nange hain [all our naked in this bath house],” he said.
Mr. Harak Singh Rawat’s move to enter the Congress, however, has come up against some opposition from former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who has (rightly) assessed that Mr. Harak Singh Rawat as being close to senior Congress leader Pritam Singh, who heads the anti-Harish Rawat faction in the BJP.
Mr. Harak Singh Rawat’s entry will strengthen, according to Mr. Harish Rawat’s calculations, Mr. Singh’s camp and the number of MLAs whose loyalty he commands, creating problems for Mr. Harish Rawat in a post-poll scenario of choosing a chief minister from among claimants in the party in case it wins the Assembly polls.
