Party-hopper Harak Singh Rawat, who never lost an election since the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000, on Friday joined the Congress, a party which had left along with nine other MLAs in 2016 months ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, which saw the BJP winning hill state hands down.
Harak Singh's demand for a ticket to his daughter-in-law, which was rejected by the BJP and ultimately led to his suspension from the saffron party, will be met by the Congress, which plans to field her from the known tourist spot Lansdowne. She will be pitted against BJP's Dileep Singh Rawat.
Both Harak Singh and his daughter-in-law Anukriti Gusain joined the Congress in Delhi even as the party's Chief Minister face Harish Rawat had aired reservations about the coming back of Harak Singh into the Congress. However, Harish Rawat was on the dais when Harak Singh joined the Congress in presence of AICC in-charge for the state Devendra Yadav and others.
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Harak Singh, a sitting MLA from Kotdwar could be fielded by Congress from Hindu pilgrimage seat Kedarnath. Congress' sitting MLA from Kedarnath Manoj Rawat had earlier voiced his reservations against the re-entry of Harak Singh of entry into the Congress saying "common Congressmen had not forgotten how Harak Singh along with nine MLAs had caused the fall of the Congress government.
"Now he wants to come back to Congress after having enjoyed the fruits of power for five years in the BJP government but Congressmen are not keen for it," he had said, raising serious allegations against Harak Singh. He had said the top leaders in the party, who back his re-entry should guarantee about his character
"I will always consider him the murderer of democracy. He has no political commitment," Manoj Rawat had alleged. Harak Singh's entry into the Congress could be possible only after five days of tug war between those backing his entry into the party and those (led by Harish Rawat) opposing his entry.
The majority of the Congress' 10 MLAs, who had rebelled against Harish Rawat and reduced his government to a minority in 2016, however, stayed back with the BJP. This time the BJP fielded former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's son Saurabh Bahuguna.
By coming back to Congress, Harak Singh has moved a full cycle. In the undivided Uttar Pradesh, he started his career with BSP in 1996 but moved to Congress two years later, where he remained for 18 years till 2016. A four-time minister, Harak Singhs' comeback to the Congress could give a boost to detractors of Harish Rawat within the party. Even last month Harish Rawat had posted a cryptic tweet, suggesting that his hands are tied even as he being the campaign committee chairman of the party is the undeclared CM face.
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