Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress veteran Harish Rawat will attend a pre-scheduled meeting in Delhi with the party’s top leadership on Friday, confirmed party sources on Thursday. Amid the growing tensions in Uttarakhand Congress, the party’s top leadership spoke to Harish Rawat inviting him to Delhi to discuss impending issues, sources said. Rawat is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Friday to meet the party high command.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Pritam Singh, Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal and party leader Yashpal Arya will accompany Rawat to Delhi. The meeting holds significance following Harish Rawat’s veiled attack on the Congress leadership on Wednesday saying “nominees of those on whose directions one has to swim (in the electoral battle) are tying my hands and feet”.
A day after he made a veiled attack on the Congress leadership ahead of assembly polls in Uttarakhand over “lack of cooperation” from the state unit, Rawat spoke of his being a party loyalist who was devoted to welfare of the state. Interacting with the media in Haridwar, Rawat refused to comment on the apparent tussle in the party unit.
Rawat had on Wednesday made a veiled attack in tweets on the Congress leadership ahead of assembly polls in the state stating that the “nominees of those whose directions one has to swim (in the electoral battle) are tying my hands and feet”.
In his cryptic tweets, Rawat has also expressed anguish at factionalism in the state unit saying there was “non-cooperation” from the party organisation in the state at most places and that thought has been crossing his mind that “it is time to rest”.
Rawat, a member of the Congress Working Committee, is seen as the party’s face for the elections in Uttarakhand. Rawat had also expressed faith that Lord Kedarnath will provide him guidance in the new year.
Captain Amarinder Singh, who resigned as Punjab Chief Minister earlier this year and floated his own party, took a dig at Harish Rawat over his tweets. “You reap what you sow! All the best for your future endeavours (if there are any) @harishrawatcmukji,” he said in a tweet.
Congress leader Manish Tewari also took a swipe at Harish Rawat, who was AICC incharge of both Punjab and Assam, over the way matters were being held in poll-bound Uttarakhand.
“FIRST ASSAM THEN PUNJAB NOW UTTRAKHAND…..BHOG POORA HI PAUN GAYE KASAR NA RAHE JAWE KOI,” Tewari said in his tweet. Tewari’s tweet was also seen as a veiled reference to the party leadership’s handling of affairs in different states.