Rebels queer pitch on both sides, Rawat admits needs to focus on seat

Harish Rawat admits he is facing a tough contest. And that while, as Congress campaign head, he bears the burden of carrying the party out of the rut of its worst-ever performance in the 2017 polls, he will need to spend more time in his own seat.

Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat (file)

With just over a week to go for polling, the streets of Lalkuan constituency in Nainital district are covered in poll posters and banners. This is one of the hottest seats in Uttarakhand, not only for the fact that Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat is now in the race, but also because both the Congress and BJP are up against strong rebels in own camps.

All along the Bilaspur-Haldwani highway, the air is filled with poll pitch for candidates blaring out of vehicles. Apart from Rawat, they seek votes for the BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht, and Independents Sandhya Dalakoti and Pawan Kumar Chauhan. Dalakoti is contesting as an Independent after the Congress replaced her in favour of Rawat; Chauhan had been a ticket hopeful on the BJP side.

Rawat admits he is facing a tough contest. And that while, as Congress campaign head, he bears the burden of carrying the party out of the rut of its worst-ever performance in the 2017 polls, he will need to spend more time in his own seat.

The 73-year-old, who has hinted that this could be his last election and earned some sympathy for it, said that while often leaders leave their election to party workers, “a little extra focus is on my own seat this time”. “There have been some circumstances which forced me to focus more on my seat,” Rawat told The Indian Express in an interview.

He also conceded that he shifted from Rampur seat to Lalkuan as “there was a little too much local resentment” there. “Besides, in Lalkuan, two-three powerful leaders combined against our declared candidate and announced they would contest as Independents. My candidacy was seen to be a solution… Because this is the heart of Kumaon, we need to win here to win Uttarakhand.”

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However, even if Rawat’s nomination has added a buzz, the enthusiasm is missing on the ground. At Nagina Colony, one of Lalkuan’s most under-developed areas, bordering a slum, Bishan Giri Goswami, 45, said the BJP and Congress – in power in Uttarakhand for more than 20 years – have not done anything for them.

“We do not have a connecting road despite being so near the highway. Whenever there is a medical emergency, we have to carry the patient. There are regular fights for water, no jobs,” said Goswami, who works at the local paper mill. The colony is unregistered and located on land belonging to the Railways. Residents like Goswami, comprising more than 6,000 voters, live in fear of being evicted.

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A BJP flag fluttered on the gate of his kuchcha house, but Goswami said he is no BJP supporter. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi might have done good for the country, but… we are voting for work on the local level,” he said, vehemently contradicted by own son and Modi supporter Manoj, 20.

One of the promises the BJP talks of is the PM’s Ujjwala Yojana. Leaving for a forested area around 5 km away to fetch wood, Sazda Khan, 40, a widow with five children (two of them married), said she got an LPG cylinder under the scheme but hasn’t refilled it since more than a year ago.

“The refill is for over Rs 1,000, how can we manage that? I work as a mason. When we go to the Nagar Nigam land for wood, the guards chase us away, making the forest our only option,” she said, adding that this was why she wanted the Congress to win.

Khem Singh, 62, a retired Education Department employee, said he and his family may also back Rawat, but due to a different reason. “We have been BJP supporters but that has changed because of its divisive policies,” Singh said.

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Lalkuan has around 1.38 voters, 70% of them upper castes. There are also 5% Muslim voters and around 2% Sikh.

While ticket to Rawat excites Singh, he said rebellion within ranks could be a problem for him.

Dalakoti has poured out her disappointment on social media, accusing the Congress of ignoring a “dedicated worker” like her. Harish Chandra Durgapal, a winner from Lalkuan in 2012 who is now in the Congress, was also a ticket hopeful, though he has now backed Rawat.

BJP contender Bisht is facing the prospect of dissenssion from both the last-time winner of the party, Naveen Chandra Dumka, and Chauhan. The latter had been expecting a BJP ticket and joined the fray as an Independent when denied one.

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Rawat insisted the differences within the party were a sign of the Congress being “democratic”. “Different ideas and different personalities give strength to the party. The BJP should not talk about it. It didn’t have three different CMs for no reason.”

On the third front in the poll race now, Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress veteran was dismissive. “I do not see them anywhere in the political scenario. It will be accidental if they win any seat.”

The party was “more of a vote-cutter”, Rawat said, while adding that things could change. “If AAP works hard in Uttarakhand for 5-7 years, they might get some recognition.”

LALKUAN

2012

Harish Chandra Durgapal, Independent: Winner

Naveen Chandra Dumka, BJP: Runner-up

2017

Naveen Chandra Dumka, BJP: Winner

Harish Chandra Durgapal, Cong: Runner-up