The Hindu : Tiwari named CM to end rift in party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 28, 2002

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Tiwari named CM to end rift in party
By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 27. The veteran Congress leader, N.D. Tiwari, will be the next Chief Minister of Uttaranchal. He was chosen by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today.

The Congress leadership appears to have chosen Mr. Tiwari in order to end the rift in the party over the name of the PCC chief, Harish Rawat. In the run up to the polls, Mr. Rawat was considered the frontrunner for the post in the eventuality of the Congress coming to power.

Today's decision may appear to be an unkind cut to Mr. Rawat, considering he had laboured hard for over a year to build up the steam against the BJP Government in the State. However, the unseemly spat between him and Satpal Maharaj over the distribution of tickets and a series of developments during the campaign appeared to have ruined Mr. Rawat's chances. Mr. Rawat is reported to have refused to part with the symbol allotment forms to some candidates whose names were added to the list in order to accommodate Mr. Maharaj. He also sulked during the first three days of campaign and had to be prodded into it by the AICC leadership. Mr. Rawat's latest faux pas was on the day the results were being declared. He conceded defeat on camera even before all the results were declared.

At its meeting in Dehra Dun on February 25, the legislature party passed a unanimous resolution authorising Ms. Gandhi to chose somebody of her choice to head the CLP. The Congress president reportedly consulted several of her party colleagues as well as the MLAs from the State before deciding on Mr. Tiwari's name.

Though the party managed to paper over its rift and present some kind of a united face during the campaign, once the results were declared, four of its leaders threw their hats in the ring. Apart from Mr. Rawat, the other leaders who were vying for the leadership were Mr. Satpal Maharaj, the CLP leader in the outgoing assembly, Indira Hirdesh and Vijay Bahuguna.

The Congress sources indicated that barring Mr. Rawat, the other were prepared to withdraw their candidatures in favour of Mr. Tiwari. Though Mr. Rawat did not oppose Mr. Tiwari, once it became clear that he was the Congress president's choice, his disappointment was there for everyone to see. He was conspicuous by his absence at the AICC headquarters where the AICC general secretary, Ambica Soni, formally made the announcement. Some of the MLAs loyal to him were also reportedly considering making a representation to the Congress president.

Speaking to newspersons after his name was formally announced, the 77-year-old Mr. Tiwari said his endeavour would be to carry the entire party with him and devote all his energies towards the development of the Hill State. This is the fifth time that Mr. Tiwari will be Chief Minister. He was Chief Minister of U.P. on four previous occasions. He has also been Minister in the Union Government, and held charge of the Finance Ministry as well as the Commerce Ministry. He is currently chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

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