Warring generals declare silent truce

Union Minister Maj Gen (retd) B C Khanduri (BJP) and his rival Uttaranchal Minister Lt Gen (retd) T P S Rawat (Congress) will slug it out from the Pauri-Garhwal constituency.

FROM SHISHIR PRASHANT
DH NEWS SERVICE, DEHRA DUN:

Two former generals of the Indian army on Tuesday formally locked horns in the battle of ballots after filing their nomination papers from the Pauri-Garhwal constituency amid beating of drums and blowing of trumpets.

But, before the two brave-hearts could pull the trigger, a truce was already on between them.

Union Transport and Highways Minister Maj Gen (retd) B C Khanduri (BJP) and his rival Uttaranchal Tourism Minister Lt Gen (retd) T P S Rawat (Congress) have now decided not to rake up issues concerning their seniority in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

Significantly, Khanduri won from this constituency three times defeating his rival Congress leader Satpal Maharaj all the three times. But Maharaj once defeated Khanduri in 1996.

Maharaj this time tactfully withdrew from the contest and instead proposed the name of his close confidante Rawat in his bid to make it a contest between a “big general vs small general”. The post of Lieutenant General was obviously higher than that of the Major General, an issue that is being raked by the ruling Congress.

Considering that Khanduri was responsible for the “India shining” campaign, BJP also made Pauri a prestige issue and launched attacks on the Congress. “We will fight to the finish to see that Khanduri is victorious. Anyway one should not forget that the main leader of the Congress party Satpal Maharaj ran away from the field,” said BJP state President Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

As electioneering picked up the momentum, both the former generals are now avoiding the issue relating to their seniority. “I am here to contest elections. Please don’t ask me to comment on these non-issues,” says Khanduri when asked to comment on the big general issue.

Similar sentiments were being echoed by Rawat also. He is also avoiding the issue and instead targeting BJP on the development issues as Congress leaders realised that the issue of big general could prove counter-productive in the long run.