Harish Rawat elected Uttaranchal PCC chief

By Our Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN, DEC. 3. Mr. Harish Rawat, former MP from Almora and vice president of the Congress Sewa Dal was today unanimously elected as the chief of the Uttaranchal Pradesh Congress Committee.

In a day packed with hectic activity at the Congress Bhawan here, Mr. Rawat was the only person to file his nomination for election to the State party presidentship. As no one else filed a nomination, the observer Mr.Jaiprakash Aggarwal declared him elected.

Mr. Rawat's election is seen as a severe blow to the Narain Dutt Tiwari camp which had announced that the party president Ms. Sonia Gandhi had ``cleared'' the name of Ms. Indira Hirdyesh, MLA from Haldwani for the presidentship of the Uttaranchal unit.

A large number of banners were put up welcoming Ms Hirdyesh to the Capital. Although she did not turn up, a number of her supporters raised slogans in her favour after the time for filing nominations was over.

Mr. Rawat, observers feel, had been active during the Uttarakhand movement and was dynamic enough to help the party regain a position of ``dignity'' whenever elections are held for the Uttaranchal Vidhan Sabha. It may be mentioned that the hill region had been a bastion of the Congress (I) till the BJP replaced it riding the Ram Janma Bhumi wave in the 1990s. The BJP further strengthened it's position in the next Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Remaining out of power for over a decade led to a large number of local leaders joining the BJP along with their supporters.

A major task before Mr.Rawat would be to ensure the return of former congressmen to the party fold. Crusading for rapid development of this area largely deprived of need based planning and implementation of schemes might help him rejuvenate the party. This task,though arduous may not be very difficult as the people are not happy with the BJP which they say was trying to develop Uttaranchal as a place for the wealthy from the plains and not as a State where the hill people could flourish by working hard and honestly.

Welcoming the election of Mr. Rawat, the Uttarakhand Sanyukt Sangharsh Samiti (USSS) convenor, Mr. Dhirendra Pratap, and Congress leader Mr. Suryakant Dhasmana who has joined this party recently said that Mr. Rawat could help in bringing together different action groups active during the Uttarakhand movement and make Congress a force to reckon with in the hill State.

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Section  : Other States
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