Cong's Uttarakhand leaders put up stiff resistance to turncoats' re-entry
IANS
Sep 17, 2021 10:05
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) With Congress leaders in Uttarakhand purportedly resisting the proposed re-entry of some "turncoats" who joined the BJP ahead of last Assembly polls, the matter is before party chief Sonia Gandhi, who will seek views of all key leaders before taking a decision, party sources said.
A Congress insider said that the camp, led by Harish Rawat, did not want any turncoat, including those said to be at important positions in the BJP government in the state, to be taken back as they consider these leaders guilty of backstabbing him when he was Chief Minister.
His camp is adopting a wait and watch policy for internal rifts in the BJP to escalate in the run-up to the Assembly elections scheduled early next year.
Rawat, the chairman of Congress' campaign committee, had said that the Congress is not in a hurry to take any decision on BJP rebels as many of them are in touch with the party and a final call will be taken at an appropriate time.
Though no one in the Congress is disclosing the names, sources said that those who had jumped ship from the Congress to the saffron camp are eyeing a comeback, while some from the BJP too are looking to join the party, though the Congress will only consider those who will prove to be beneficial to the party.
Many prominent Congress leaders, including ex-Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, former ministers Harak Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, and Yashpal Arya had left the Congress for the saffron party, but some of them are reportedly upset ever since the BJP last month appointed Pushkar Singh Dhami as the new Chief Minister.
Rawat, who was recently appointed as the head of the Congress campaign committee and is also likely to be projected as its chief ministerial face, is starting the second leg of his public outreach yatra on Saturday from Haridwar.
