DEHRADUN: With the resignation of Ganesh Godiyal as state party chief, hectic parleys have begun within the state Congress with leaders from opposing camps lobbying for the post. The past five years have witnessed a stiff competition between the Harish Rawat camp and Pritam Singh camp for key posts within the party.
While Singh himself was leader of Opposition in the fourth assembly, Rawat was successful in securing the post of state chief for his trusted colleague Ganesh Godiyal. However, with Congress yet to take a call on both the key posts, the two camps are lobbying for them as it could define the party line in the next five years.
If Bhuvan Chand Kapri, who defeated CM Pushkar Singh Dhami from Khatima and a member of the Pritam Singh camp, is being backed by the Chakrata MLA for post of state chief, a number of members of Rawat camp like Manoj Tewari, a three-time MLA, are among the strong contenders. Badrinath legislator Rajendra Bhandari, a member of Rawat camp along with seniors like Hira Singh Bisht, Navprabhat and Dinesh Agarwal can be considered by the party to head the state unit.
Rawat was the state chief from 2000 to 2007 and he handed over the baton to Yashpal Arya, who led the state unit till 2014.
Kishore Upadhyay took charge in 2014 and was in the post till 2017. In 2017, Singh was named as state chief, a party post he held till 2021. In July, 2021, Godiyal, who resigned recently, was made the state chief.
On the other hand, Singh himself is the frontrunner to lead the Opposition party in the state assembly. Two members of Rawat camp – Harish Dhami and Yashpal Arya – too are serious contenders. After the defeat of a number of prominent members like Rawat, the party could opt for seasoned campaigners like Singh or Arya.
From 2007 to 2012, Harak Singh Rawat was the leader of Opposition for Congress. From 2017 to June 2021, Indira Hridayesh was the Leader of Opposition and after her demise, the party named Singh for the key post.
