Congress rejigs Uttarakhand unit: Harish Rawat to be CM face, Ganesh Godiyal new party chief

Pritam Singh has been made CLP leader

After anointing Navjot Sidhu as Punjab PCC chief, Congress on Thursday carried out a re-haul of its party unit in poll-bound Uttarakhand, naming Ganesh Godiyal as PCC president, outgoing state chief Pritam Singh as CLP leader and appointing Harish Rawat as Chairperson of the Campaign Committee, making it clear that the former Chief Minister is the CM face of the party.

While in Punjab, Sidhu's appointment was done ignoring the objections of Captain Amarinder Singh, Rawat has, by and large, got a team of his choice in the dissension-ridden party unit of Uttarakhand.

Post-Covid health complications, there was dithering in the party on whether to give Rawat the sole leadership role in the state. Rawat was reportedly against Pritam Singh or Kishore Upadhyaye becoming PCC chief and he had his way.

The party feels that Rawat is still the best bet to take on the BJP in the state. Another Thakur leader Pritam Singh, a four-term MLA has been given the CLP leader's post, which was lying vacant after the death of Indira Hridayesh, a prominent Brahmin leader in the state. Her son Sumit Hridayesh has now been appointed chairman of the Publicity Committee.

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In the Brahmin Thakur dominated Uttarakhand politics, the party has tried to do a balancing act by representing both by naming Rawat, a Thakur as CM face, and Godiyal a Brahmin leader from the Garhwal region as PCC chief.

Rawat hails from Kumaon region, which the BJP has targeted this time by appointing Pushkar Singh Dhami from the same region as Chief Minister and making Ajay Bhatt a Union Minister.

Of the 70 assembly seats in the state Garhwal has 41 and Kumaon has 29. In the last state polls, BJP had won 57 seats-34 from Garhwal and 23 from Kumaon. Hence both Godiyal and Rawat have a tough challenge this time.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi also constituted the Campaign Committee, Coordination Committee, Manifesto Committee and Core Committee for the poll-bound states. Senior party leader Pradeep Tamta has been made Vice President of the Campaign Committee while Dinesh Agrawal has been named its convenor.

On the pattern of recent appointments in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, the party appointed four Working Presidents-- former MLA Jeet Ram, Bhuwan Kapri, Tilak Raj Behar and Ranjit Rawat, giving representation to different social groups in the BJP-ruled state that goes to polls in nine months. Aryendra Sharma has been made party treasurer.

The Uttarakhand Congress Core Committee will be chaired by AICC in-charge Devendra Yadav, and will have 16 members, including newly-appointed state party chief Dinesh Godiyal, Pritam Singh and Harish Rawat.

Former Uttarakhand PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay has been appointed chairman of the Uttarakhand Coordination Committee of the Congress, while former minister Navprabhat will be chairman of the Manifesto Committee. Former MP Mahendra Pal will be its vice chairman.

Several senior leaders have found a place in the 11-member committee, while former AICC secretary Prakash Joshi has been appointed as the new chairman of Uttarakhand PCC Election Management Committee and Rajinder Bhandari its vice chairman.

Sarojani Kainthura as its vice chairperson. Uttarakhand PCC vice president Dhirendra Pratap Singh has been made the chairman of the Outreach Committee, while Vijay Saraswat will be the new chairman of the Training Programme Committee.