The Hindu : National : ‘Rawat’s appointment augurs well for Uttarakhand’

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‘Rawat’s appointment augurs well for Uttarakhand’

C. K. Chandramohan

DEHRA DUN: The appointment of the Congress MP from Hardwar, Harish Rawat, as a Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh Government has been greeted with a great deal of cheer by the Congress rank and file and many others in Uttarakhand. The appointment has also sent up alarm signals within the BJP which was humbled in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

‘Best choice’

“It’s the best choice the Congress could have made. Mr. Rawat, known as a man with a huge mass base, is certain to facilitate the inflow of many new schemes for the progress of Uttarakhand,” said several young and senior party leaders at the Congress headquarters here on Thursday.

“Now we will be in a better position to push for more votes in the next State Assembly elections and pave the way for a development-oriented Congress government in Uttarakhand,” said Dinesh Aggarwal, MLA, who along with Mr. Rawat had captured the hearts of the masses amid the hills-plains divide slogans propped up by opponents including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the religious sentiments sought to be fanned by the ruling BJP in the Hardwar Lok Sabha constituency.

“The vote for the Congress translating into a victory in all five Lok Sabha seats from the State shows that the people were fed up of the non-performance during the two and a half years of the BJP rule in Uttarakhand and wanted a strong Centre,” said Mr. Aggarwal, known for working overtime for the welfare of his constituents.

BJP worried

The news of Mr. Rawat getting a berth at the Centre has set off alarm bells in BJP and RSS circles here. “Chief Minister B. C. Khanduri or State BJP president Bachi Singh Rawat never bother to even consult us and most of the veteran or young workers no longer visit the BJP headquarters here,” observed several hard-core saffron loyalists, adding that it is high time to put the party organisation and government in better hands if the party is to put up a decent presence in the next State Assembly elections.

BJP old-timers wondered why the party high command could not replace the current leadership by more dynamic men. “Bhagat Singh Koshiary, known as a grassroots worker respected by all, could be asked to head the party and Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, who is the senior most MLA with experience as a Minister twice in Uttar Pradesh and now doing a second term as Minister in Uttarakhand, could be asked to head the government as he has the relevant experience to rein in the bureaucrats and carry the masses along,” they said.

‘Drastic changes’

“Drastic changes are a must if the BJP wants to return to power in the State, especially in the face of some smart moves being made by the Congress,” said Sunita Joshi, a party worker in Srinagar (Garhwal).

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