Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 26 Apr: Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat is currently visiting Nainital. Here he held a meeting with the party workers to discuss strategy for the forthcoming Assembly elections and launched a sharp attack on the BJP government. Addressing the party workers, Rawat claimed that Congress workers are brimming with enthusiasm and are already prepared for the polls, while the public mood is visibly shifting towards the Congress. He claimed that anti-incumbency against the BJP is evident and would directly benefit the Congress.
On the issue of internal differences within Congress, Rawat remarked that factionalism is not new and he cited the 2002 and 2012 Assembly elections as examples of factionalism but added that despite it, the Congress party had still won the 2002 and 2012 assembly elections and had also completed its term successfully. He said disagreements within a family are natural but dialogue would resolve them, stressing that discussions should take place face to face rather than on social media.
Rawat accused the BJP of relying on falsehoods and communal polarisation since 2017. He alleged that the BJP’s deceit was responsible for Congress’s defeat in 2022. He appealed to the people to remain vigilant against what he described as BJP’s “lies and deception” in the upcoming elections.
Targeting the government on women’s security and reservation, Rawat said the BJP had deliberately linked the issue of women’s reservation to delimitation, creating confusion. He argued that such an important matter requires wide consultation with all the states and urged the Centre to respect their suggestions. He proposed that, if the BJP is genuinely committed to women’s empowerment, one-third of the 543 Lok Sabha seats should be immediately reserved for women, with the pilot projects in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. He further suggested that states going to Assembly polls in 2027 should implement 33 per cent reservation for women.
Rawat also accused the BJP of misusing government funds for the party rallies and reminded that the Congress government had already passed the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2010, but its implementation remains blocked by the BJP. He said that even after the Bill was passed again in 2023, its enforcement was deferred until 2033, which he described as a grave injustice to women.
