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The devastating floods in Uttarakhand seems to have taken a toll not just on the state, but on the ruling Congress party as well. While the party is busy taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it also needs to tackle the infighting within the party on the performance of the state unit led by Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna.
Congress’ communication in-charge Ajay Maken on Monday lashed at the BJP for attacking its state government. He defended Bahuguna, saying, “The Congress party is satisfied over the way the Uttarakhand government has been functioning.” Other party leaders, however, conceded the damage to the Congress had been “more than what happened during the 2G scam”.
Another senior, who did not wish to be named, said: “The image of the party has suffered a terrible blow. The message that has gone across is that we cannot protect pilgrims.”
Harish Rawat, Union water resources minister, who has just returned from a 11-day trip to his home state Uttarakhand to take stock of the flood situation there, told Business Standard: “We (Congress) need to do a lot to regain the confidence of the people there.”
Rawat, a known detractor of Bahuguna, however dismissed the possibility of replacing Bahuguna in the light of his mishandling of the flood situation.
He said, “This is not the time for blame game or fault finding. We need to focus our energies on rescuing people. There are still people to be rescued. There are 700 villages where we still need to reach out. The next step should be to provide relief and then rehabilitation for the locals there.”
According to Rawat, the immediate task now is to “first focus on relief, ensure that the bodies of the dead are accorded full respect and cremated according to Hindu rites and provide relief”.
He also said there are still villages where there is no drinking water.
Asked about his supporters who had been demanding the Uttarakhand CM’s ouster, Rawat said that was before the tragedy hit the state. “Since the floods, we are fully with the chief minister.”
A senior Congress leader who did not wish to be named said, “The image of the party has suffered a terrible blow. The message that has gone across is we cannot protect pilgrims.” Even though there are no elections around the corner, the Congress cannot ignore the fact that 2014 polls are just around the corner.
