U’khand Congress rejuvenated in the aftermath of 3 victories

| | Dehradun
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U’khand Congress rejuvenated in the aftermath of 3 victories

Thursday, 13 December 2018 | PNS | Dehradun

The victory in three States deemed as saffron redoubts -Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh-where a resurgent Congress ousted the BJP from power has lent Uttarakhand Congress with the much-needed boost ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress leaders of the Himalayan State are now hoping that the trend of ignominious defeats they faced at the hands of BJP under Narendra Modi in the 2014 Parliamentary election and the 2017 Assembly election would now reverse.

Notably, the BJP swept the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, winning all the five seats up for grab in the State, while riding the crest of the Modi wave. The same trend continued into the 2017 Assembly election in the State as the saffron party secured an unprecedented victory again riding piggyback on the Modi torrents which swept across the State. 

Affirming that the chapter of their biting the poll dust has been closed after the grand old party wrested power in three saffron citadels, thus halting the Modi juggernaut in its own tracks, the State Congress vice- president Surya Kant Dhasmana said on Wednesday that the Congressmen are now euphoric in the aftermath of victories in three saffron strongholds.

He claimed that  this time, his party would sweep all the five Lok Sabha seats. Dhasana said that the saffron party had received severe drubbing despite going all-out to whip up communal frenzy. 

While commenting on the likely impact of the poll result from three States on Uttarakhand, veteran journalist Suren Rawat said that the Congress is a formidable force to reckon with despite the debacle it faced during the 2014 general election and 2017 Assembly election.

“It is true that many prominent leaders like Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj, Yashpal Arya and Harak Singh Rawat have left the party. However, the Congress has huge groundswell of support  among the electorate of the hill state. If the party manages to enter into an understanding with Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP), which appears likely, the Congress candidates would prove to be a mighty force in many areas of the plains also,’’ he said.

Focused on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the State  Congress top brass is now  wooing those who left the party back. It is being rumoured that the former principal of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), Colonel Ajay Kothiyal who recently retired from the armed forces and whose political ambitions are clear to everyone, might join the Congress. If it happens, he is likely to be given nomination for the high-profile Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency. His emotional connect with the army personnel might come handy in wresting the seat from BJP, a Congress insider said.

Political observers opine that the Congress would give a spirited challenge to BJP in the Lok Sabha elections if it is able to control factionalism.

The Congress at present is  a clearly divided house with camps loyal to the former Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, Pradesh Congress Committee ( PCC) president Pritam Singh, leader of the opposition Indira Hridayesh and former PCC chief Kishore Upadhyaya  holding sway.

Political compulsions have forced Pritam Singh to get closer to Indira Hridayesh while Harish Rawat and Kishore Upadhyaya have joined hands under compulsion too. It would be interesting to see how the Congress high command manages to put its house in order before the high-stake Lok Sabha election.

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