Ahead of the assembly polls, the warring camps of the Uttarakhand Congress led by Harish Rawat and Pritam Singh were seeing resorting to physical violence. Earlier today on December 24, supporters of Rawat were seen manhandling state general secretary, Rajendra Shah.
The warring groups were fighting when Rahul Gandhi was holding a meeting with former chief minister Harish Rawat and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh in Delhi to resolve disputes.
In a viral video, some party workers who are said to be the Youth Congress workers and supporters of former Uttarakhand CM Rawat, are seen abusing and manhandling Shah who is close to Pritam Singh.
The scuffle took place on the premise of the state Congress headquarters in Dehradun. Rawat’s supporters are heard threatening Shah that they would assault him if he (Shah) ever abused Rawat.
ये सम्भालेंगे उत्तराखंड! https://t.co/GBTxXmuhWa pic.twitter.com/R6JLB1QgzR
— Alok Bhatt (@alok_bhatt) December 24, 2021
As Shah has complained to AICC in charge of the state Devendra Yadav about his insult and assault, the BJP took a dig at the Congress. Uttarakhand BJP advised Rahul Gandhi to leave Uttarakhand to the BJP and take care of his own party first.
“Rahul Gandhi, while Harish Rawat and Pritam Singh are sitting in front of you. Their supporters are hurling shoes at each other. Take care of your family and your own party leaders. We will take care of Uttarakhand,” the BJP said.
श्री @RahulGandhi दिल्ली में आपके सामने जो @harishrawatcmuk जी और @incpritamsingh जी बैठे हुए हैं, उनके समर्थक कांग्रेस भवन में जमकर जूतम-पत्रम कर रहे हैं।
— BJP Uttarakhand (@BJP4UK) December 24, 2021
कृपया आप अपना परिवार, अपने क्षत्रप, उनके परिवार और समय मिले तो अपनी पार्टी को संभालिए… उत्तराखंड हम संभाल रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/0VgggyRj7m
The incident at Rajiv Bhavan, the headquarters of Uttarakhand Congress, indicates that Congress is facing a serious crisis that Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are desperately trying to control.
The Congress high command had summoned Rawat, Pritam Singh, Uttarakhand PCC president Ganesh Godiyal and other top leaders to Delhi for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Friday (December 24) to sort out differences.
There is a rift between Rawat and Pritam Singh. Against his wishes, Singh was recently replaced as Uttarakhand PCC president and appointed as Leader of Opposition. Rawat is not on good terms with Devender Yadav who is branded as an outsider sent by Delhi.
While Rawat is heading the party in the elections scheduled in early 2022, reports say that he wants the central leadership to declare him the chief ministerial face.
Recently, Rawat had posted a series of cryptic twits indicating that he was not getting any support and the party organization turned its back on him and his hands were tied.
#चुनाव_रूपी_समुद्र
— Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) December 22, 2021
है न अजीब सी बात, चुनाव रूपी समुद्र को तैरना है, सहयोग के लिए संगठन का ढांचा अधिकांश स्थानों पर सहयोग का हाथ आगे बढ़ाने के बजाय या तो मुंह फेर करके खड़ा हो जा रहा है या नकारात्मक भूमिका निभा रहा है। जिस समुद्र में तैरना है,
1/2 pic.twitter.com/wc4LKVi1oc
In another tweet, he had hinted he may resign if the situation continued.
सत्ता ने वहां कई मगरमच्छ छोड़ रखे हैं। जिनके आदेश पर तैरना है, उनके नुमाइंदे मेरे हाथ-पांव बांध रहे हैं। मन में बहुत बार विचार आ रहा है कि #हरीश_रावत अब बहुत हो गया, बहुत तैर लिये, अब विश्राम का समय है!
— Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) December 22, 2021
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His meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Friday ended with a temporary solution that he would lead the election campaign of the party whereas Congress legislative body will decide the chief ministerial face.
But bigger questions are still left unanswered whether Congress can beat the BJP and the Congress high command can control the factionalism in the state unit.
