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Friday, Jul 01, 2005

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Other States - Uttaranchal

Clamour for a Cabinet berth

C.K. Chandramohan

Congressmen want Manmohan Singh to accommodate one of the three MPs

DEHRA DUN: The faction-ridden ruling Congress seems to have come together to urge the party president, Sonia Gandhi, to give Uttaranchal a berth in the Union Cabinet.

"There were four Ministers from Uttaranchal -- Bachi Singh Rawat, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, Sushma Swaraj and Sanghpriya Gautam -- in the NDA Government and they helped bring in a lot of funds and development schemes. But the trend has reversed under the Congress-led Government as there is no representation in the Union Cabinet," said several party general secretaries led by Dhirendra Pratap here on Thursday.

Although the Chief Minister, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, is able to secure a lot of central assistance much more could come the State's way if at least one of the three Congress MPs were accommodated in the Manmohan Singh Government, they feel

Strong contender

The strongest among the aspirants for a central position is the State PCC president and Rajya Sabha MP, Harish Rawat. "A berth at the Centre for Mr. Rawat would definitely strengthen the organisation that stands divided at present," said Girish Tiwari, a senior Congress worker in Srinagar.

Former Minister, Capt. Satish Sharma, is also in the fray as a member of the Rajya Sabha but considered an outsider within the party.

The third MP is K.C. Singh Baba, the lone Lok Sabha member from Uttaranchal.

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Clamour for a Cabinet berth