‘Not in CM race’: Harish Rawat deepens Congress intrigue before Uttarakhand polls | Political Pulse News
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday said he was not in the race to be Uttarakhand CM if the Congress wins the 2027 Assembly elections, asserting that the decision should rest with the party’s central leadership.
The former CM said the party’s immediate priority should be to win at least 45 of the state’s 70 Assembly seats. “Our target is to cross the figure of 45. Once the MLAs are elected, the party leadership and (Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition) Rahul Gandhi ji will decide who will become the CM,” he said.
Rawat’s remarks come amid continuing uncertainty over his role in the Congress’s preparations for the upcoming elections. While the party has sought to project a united front under state president Ganesh Godiyal, Rawat has continued to organise his own programmes, mobilise supporters and remain an active presence in state politics.
The most visible confrontation came last month, when Rawat went ahead with his “dhanyawad evam jansamvad yatra” despite being asked by the party leadership to call it off.
On October 6, a day after the Jaspur-Haldwani leg of Rawat’s yatra, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal issued a public warning, stating that “Individual campaigns will not be tolerated by the party”.
Questions arise
Questions about Rawat’s position became more pronounced on November 2, when Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi met state party leaders to discuss their poll preparations.
While Rawat was conspicuous by his absence, those who attended the meeting included Godiyal, Pritam Singh, Harak Singh Rawat, Assembly LoP Yashpal Arya, AICC in-charge of Uttarakhand Kumari Selja and Venugopal.
In an interview with The Indian Express last month, Godiyal acknowledged the challenge posed by factionalism within the state unit and said the party stood firmly with Rawat, particularly after the ED action involving his former aide.
Behind Congress tensions
The current tensions have their roots in the organisational changes announced by the Congress in November last year.
The party brought back Godiyal as the state Congress president, replacing Karan Mahara, whose term had ended. Pritam Singh, a former state unit president, was appointed chairman of the campaign committee, while former minister Harak Singh Rawat was made chairman of the election management committee.
The appointments were seen as an attempt to accommodate leaders from different regions and political constituencies within the state. Godiyal, a Brahmin leader from Garhwal who represents the Srinagar constituency, had previously worked closely with Rawat.
In April, Rawat announced a 15-day political sabbatical after former Ramnagar block pramukh Sanjay Negi was not inducted into the Congress. The episode triggered differences between Rawat’s supporters and Harak, once again bringing questions about influence within the state unit to the fore.
In September, Rawat announced that he was stepping down from the Uttarakhand Congress’s executive and also as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) after the ED searched the premises of his former Officer on Special Duty and current personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena in connection with alleged irregularities in the 2016 Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari recruitment examination.
Defending his aide, Rawat said he did not want the agency’s action to weaken the Congress’s campaign against corruption. He also described the action as an attempt to create a political narrative against him.
Rawat’s arc
Rawat’s relationship with the Congress high command has been marked by several twists and turns, long predating the current differences.
One of the central figures in the Congress’s Uttarakhand politics even before the state’s creation in November 2000, Rawat served as the state Congress president from 2001 to 2007 and led the party into the first Assembly elections in 2002. The Congress won the election, but the high command chose veteran leader N D Tiwari as the CM.
When the Congress returned to power a decade later in 2012, winning 32 of the state’s 70 seats, Rawat, then a Union minister, was again among the contenders for the top post. The party, however, chose Vijay Bahuguna.
Rawat eventually became the CM in February 2014, replacing Bahuguna, who stepped down in the aftermath of the devastating 2013 Kedarnath floods.
In March 2016, nine Congress MLAs rebelled and joined hands with the BJP, following which President’s Rule was imposed in the state. The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court, which directed a floor test, which Rawat won.
His government completed its term, but the 2017 elections saw a debacle for the Congress, with Rawat losing both the seats – Haridwar Rural and Kichha – he contested.
His electoral setbacks continued. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rawat unsuccessfully contested the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat.
Three years later, in the 2022 Assembly polls, he again became the face of the Congress’s campaign, but the party’s prospects were again marred by intense factionalism.
The Congress initially fielded Rawat from Ramnagar but later shifted him to the Lalkuan seat following opposition from his former associate Ranjeet Rawat. Harish eventually lost his election.
