Infighting back in Uttarakhand Cong as Rawat completes one yr

Harish Rawat is perhaps Uttarakhand's first chief minister who is not in the state to celebrate the completion of one year in the office. Rawat is in New Delhi, meeting Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and other top leaders to brief them on the state of affairs of the party back home.

Party observers say Rawat is worried because everything is not all right within the ruling Congress at the moment.

They say Rawat is now batting on the same pitch where he clean bowled his arch rival Vijay Bahuguna early last year.

After being forced to resign by the party high command, Bahuguna wants to turn the tables on Rawat now. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also in touch with Bahuguna exploring the possibility of him joining the saffron brigade.

However, the Bahuguna camp denied this. "Bahuguna is a true Congress leader and will never join BJP," said Rajkumar, a party MLA and a Bahuguna loyalist.

Bahuguna has already threatened to hold a "Jan Akrosh" rally on February 15 in Udham Singh Nagar district against the Rawat government if decisions which were taken during his chief ministership are not implemented within a fortnight.

In a letter to the Chief Minister Rawat, Bahuguna has reminded him that the decision of regularisation of land under categories IV and 1 (A) in his Sitarganj constituency is still to be implemented. Similarly several other such decisions were also pending, he claimed.

Bahuguna's demand is being seen as a pressure tactic to get plum posts for his own men. But Rawat remains unfazed. Rawat does not want to succumb to the pressure of Bahuguna as far as the cabinet berths are concerned.

"This is not the way to resolve the issues. He (Bahuguna) should wait and the matter will be resolved," said a top Congress leader close to Rawat.

Even state Congress Chief Kishore Upadhayay has asked Bahuguna not to air his grievances in the media.

On the development front, Rawat's performance is just like glass half empty or half full. According to an analysis, only 25-35 per cent of the announcements made by Rawat in the past one year have been implemented so far. Even on the industrial development, the investments are drying up after the exit of Bahugna government.

However, Rawat has started scores of social schemes which include pensions for farmers, religious priests and others.