DEHRADUN: After a go-ahead from Congress top brass, Ganesh Godiyal was given the coveted post of party's Uttarakhand chief last week. He is tasked with bringing the party leaders together and ensuring a much-needed win for Congress in the forthcoming state assembly polls. In an exclusive interaction with TOI's Kautilya Singh, Godiyal spoke extensively on the election agenda, challenges before Congress, and entry of the Aam Aadmi Party in Uttarakhand politics, among others. Excerpts:
With just a few months left for the 2022 polls, what are the biggest challenges before you?
Yes, we are close to the polls but the Uttarakhand Congress, under the leadership of my predecessor, has been working on the ground and raising people-centric issues. We have been making people aware of the failures of the incumbent government for the last four years.
As the party's state chief, I aim to reach out to the people in remote hills.
Congress was reduced to 11 seats in 2017. How do you plan to pull off a turnaround in 2022?
State residents are well aware of the lacklustre performance of the BJP in the last four and a half years. They have transformed Uttarakhand into a factory of experiments at the cost of people and development. Even after getting 57 out of the 70 assembly seats, they failed to give a single full-term CM to the state. One CM makes a law and the other withdraws it. This is a complete mockery of the system.
There are reports of differences among senior Congress leaders over the new poll team.
There may be some differences of opinion but no one has approached me with such an issue so far. The party has constituted a big team dedicated to the polls which comprises senior leaders and young functionaries. We are confident of reaching out to all areas of the state with our development vision.
What is your main agenda for the election?
The first and the foremost is unemployment. The BJP government has been making false promises of employment opportunities to the youths. The migrant workers, who returned to the state during the Covid phase, have been reduced to daily wagers.
Besides, poor health and education infrastructure in the hills will also be our focus.
AAP aims to provide the state residents with an alternative to the BJP and Congress. Is the Kejriwal-led party a threat to Congress?
They are raising the same issues which we have already highlighted. Their biggest poll promise — free electricity — is also inspired by our announcement. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat had already promised 100 units of free power in the first year and 200 units of free power from the second year if the Congress is voted to office.
