In desperate attempts to relive its past glorious days, the Congress party is committing one fatal blunder after another. As the probability of the INC retaining Punjab nears zero, the Uttarakhand elections are also looking like a lost cause for the party.
Harish Rawat wants to return to his Janmabhoomi
Harish Rawat, Punjab Congress’ ‘crisis-in-charge’ and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, has requested his party to relieve him from his Punjab duties. According to the reports, Rawat wants to solely focus on the upcoming 2022 assembly elections in Uttarakhand, his home state. Expressing his displeasure over the overburdening duties in two states, Rawat wrote on Facebook, “Things are getting fraught. As the polls will approach, I will have to devote time to both places (Punjab and Uttarakhand go to polls early next year),”.
He further made a formal public request to his party to allow him to focus on his home state. “I have made up my mind that I will request the party leadership to allow me to dedicate myself completely to Uttarakhand. Therefore, the party should relieve me of my responsibilities in Punjab,” said Rawat.
Punjab and Uttarakhand – too much burden for Mr. Rawat
Rawat seemed extremely upset with the fact that he could not support his own people in Uttarakhand’s unseasonal rain crisis, which has claimed at least 54 people till now. Blaming his busy schedule in Punjab for his absence, he said-, “I could visit only a few places. I wanted to help ease people’s pain and reach everyone but my duties (in Punjab) had a different set of expectations from me,” Stressing that Uttarakhand is his Janmabhoomi and Punjab is his Karmabhoomi, he said that he cannot do justice to Punjab until he is satisfied with his service to Uttarakhand. Additionally, he expressed an emotional bond with Punjab.
It is not the first time that Mr. Rawat has asked to be relieved from his Punjab duties. Earlier in August, he made a similar request to the party, but the party had denied him of fulfilling his responsibilities towards Uttarakhand.
Read more: Meet Harish Rawat— BJP’s star campaigner in Punjab
Rawat is fed up of Sidhu?
Harish Rawat’s appointment as Punjab-in-charge was owed mainly to the Congress party’s resolve to solve the crisis caused due to differences between Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. However, things did not turn out the way Congress wanted. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s incessant attempts to remove Captain from the chief ministerial post saw Amarinder resigning from his post as well as from the party. A relatively unknown and unpopular leader – Charanjit Singh Channi, was given the post of Chief Minister.
Also read: Sidhu and Channi’s mysterious Christian connection and the menace of conversion in Punjab
Captain Amarinder and NDA in Punjab elections
As reported by the TFI, Captain Amarinder Singh has decided to float a new party. The party is said to be set to join hands with the BJP-led NDA, in the upcoming Punjab elections of 2022. Captain Amarinder Singh’s open denouncement of Khalistanis has secured his place in the heart of Hindu voters in Punjab. Other than open denouncements of Khalistanis, his no-holds-barred underlining of Sidhu’s anti-national inclination is going to prove detrimental to the Congress party in the elections. On the other hand, the lynching and murder of a Dalit Sikh by Congress supported Nihang Sikhs near the ‘fake farmers protest site’ is bound to make sure that Dalit votes, which were erstwhile going to Congress, will drift towards NDA and Amarinder. In that scenario, a coalition of NDA and Amarinder is set to oust Congress from the state.
The coalition between Amarinder and BJP will benefit BJP at the end of the day; Amarinder will not be holding the chief ministerial post for a long time, owing to his age. If that happens, BJP will be in a position to push its own party’s candidate, for Punjab CM’s post.
BJP is already strong in Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, after successive changings of Chief Ministers, BJP seems to have finally set its house in order in the state. Pushkar Singh Dhami’s actions to weed out the false notions of secularism from Uttarakhand have been extremely popular. Moreover, the state government’s recent actions on illegal Muslim immigrants and land-jihad have been equally popular among the people of the state, as well.
Read more: He, who will rid Uttarakhand of illegal Muslim immigrants, will win the election
Although the BJP has consolidated itself in Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat is still a popular political entity in the state. Mr. Rawat himself recognizes the fact that he is the last hope for Congress in the state. Seeing Punjab already drifting towards BJP-led NDA, Harish Rawat has pressed the panic button to at least save the INC’s face in Uttarakhand.