Factional fights settled, Congress forms teams swiftly in Uttarakhand with Harish Rawat as poll face

The central leadership has made former chief minister Harish Rawat the face of the party’s election campaign committee. Rawat, who played an important role in Punjab, will have a big say in the state unit, with his confidant Ganesh Godiyal being appointed as the party’s new state president.

In the new committee, Godiyal has replaced Pritam Singh who is now the leader of opposition in the state assembly. The Congress has also accommodated other big leaders from the state in the party’s different committees. Like Punjab, the state Congress has now got four working presidents.

The formation of new committees apparently suits the political interest of the former chief minister Rawat in the state ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.

“The importance of Rawat gets automatically reflected in the appointment of both the state president Godiyal and the leader of opposition Singh from the state’s Garhwal region. It means Rawat has been given the reins of the party in Kumaon region,” said a Congress functionary, who did not wish to be identified.

Rawat now has a tough task to ensure a good show of his party in Kumaon region in the assembly polls. Both of the BJP’s top leaders – chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union minister Ajay Bhatt – are also from Kumaon region.

Although Rawat belongs to Kumaon, he is perhaps his party’s only leader who has his supporters across the state’s three regions – Kumaon, Garhwal and plains. In the past four years, Rawat has toured different parts of the state.

Rawat may play a big role in ticket distribution following the formation of the new committees.