Khanduri gears up for bypoll, as Cong gameplan lies in tatters
S M A KAZMI
Dehradun:
In His first electoral battle after taking over as Chief Minister of
the state in March this year, B C Khanduri has forced the Congress, the
main Opposition party, to go on the backfoot. Khanduri has to enter the
state Assembly before September 8, 2007, within six months of taking
over as Chief Minister. While, the CM will be fighting the Dhumakot
Assembly byelection to be held on August 29, Congress remains divided
and undecided and is yet to announce its candidate to take on the Chief
Minister.
The
Congress has also complained to the Election Commission (EC) against
misuse of official machinery by the BJP Government in Dhumakot to
influence voters. Reacting to the compliant, Ajendra Ajay, state BJP
spokesperson, said: “Congress leaders are frustrated for not being able
to stop the ‘march’ of our ‘general’.”
The BJP chose Khanduri, a former Union Minister and a member
of Lok Sabha from Pauri Garhwal as the Chief Minister of the state
after it won the February 2007 Assembly polls.
In what is considered a political masterstroke, Khanduri
brought former Armyman Lt Gen TPS Rawat (Retd) and another state
Congress leader to the BJP fold. The move rattled the Congress as TPS
Rawat vacated his Dhumakot Assembly seat, which he had won on a
Congress ticket. The Dhumakot Assembly segment is part of the Pauri
Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency represented by Khanduri. By winning over
Rawat, a Thakur, the CM, who is a Brahmin, has cemented the
Brahmin-Thakur divide in an Assembly segment dominated by
ex-servicemen.
On the other hand, a divided Congress has not been able to
decide on its candidate. Satpal Maharaj, a godman-cum-Congress leader
who had been a traditional political foe of Khanduri from Pauri
Garhwal, has reportedly refused to contest against the CM from
Dhumakot. Incidentally, Maharaj has been defeated by Khanduri four
times in the Lok Sabha elections in 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004. He had
won against Khanduri once in 1996 Lok Sabha elections.
Despite all this, the Congress is trying to put up a brave
front. “We will not give a walkover to the Chief Minister and enter the
fray to win,” said Harish Rawat, Uttarakhand Congress chief.
The party is now focusing to persuade Surinder Singh Negi, a
former minister, to take on the Chief Minister. Leaders believe that
Negi, a senior Congressman, has considerable clout in the Thakur
community. But he is wary of Satpal Maharaj, his party colleague, but
an old political foe. “In all probability, Surinder Singh Negi would be
the party candidate,” said Surinder Aggarwal, state Congress
spokesperson.
However, Harish Rawat and Congress Legislature Party (CLP)
leader Harak Singh Rawat have kicked off election campaign in the
constituency.
