By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 19 Feb: Five days have gone by since the polling was held in Uttarakhand for the assembly elections on 14 February. In these five days, at least five candidates fighting elections as sitting MLAs have complained of some party leaders of acting against them and attempting to ensuring their defeat. The seriousness of such allegations can be gauged by the fact that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had to speak to them urging them not to make such allegations in public but to submit their complaints on appropriate party forum. Not only this, sources in the party claimed that the party High Command has also taken a serious note of the complaints and had even summoned Dhami as well as BJP State President Madan Kaushik to Delhi to discuss the issue. In addition, BJP’s Central leadership has asked the BJP State General Secretary (Organisation) Ajaey Kumar to conduct an internal inquiry into such allegations and to submit a report on the issue. It all began on the very next day of the polling, when Sanjay Gupta, sitting MLA and BJP candidate from Laksar alleged that none other than BJP State President Madan Kaushik of working towards his defeat. Sanjay Gupta’s video where he was levelling this allegation had become viral on the same day when it was first seen on the social media. Champawat MLA and BJP candidate Kailash Chand Gehtodi was another BJP candidate to make such allegation. He too had claimed that some party leaders had worked against him in the elections and they dissuaded the party workers of working sincerely for him in the campaign. This was followed by Kashipur MLA Harbhajan Singh Cheema’s allegation that some party leaders had joined hands during the campaign and the polling to work against his son Trilok Singh Cheema who was contesting the election on the BJP ticket this time. Today it was turn of Yamunotri MLA Kedar Singh Rawat to level a similar allegation of some party office bearers of acting against him in the elections. It may be recalled that Kedar Singh Rawat is the sitting BJP MLA from Yamunotri constituency. He had joined BJP as sitting MLA from Yamunotri from Congress just before the 2017 assembly elections. The problem he has apparently faced is that he has not been accepted by many in the BJP as one of them only and has had to struggle for support within the party. There was speculation that he might not be repeated by the party and there were many claimants to BJP ticket from Yamunotri. However, he was again given ticket and now faces some lack of support from the BJP workers in addition to anti incumbency against him as sitting MLA. Sanjay Gupta on the other hand has never had a cosy or close relationship with Madan Kaushik who had been appointed six months ago as BJP President. It is probably a matter of internal inquiry by the BJP to verify how far his allegations have any ground. There were many claimants to BJP ticket from Kashipur too and many in the party were not happy that outgoing MLA Harbhajan Singh Cheema had managed a ticket for his son Trilok Singh Cheema this time. So there is a likelihood of some ground behind his allegations. The bigger question is however, the issue of the party image with such allegations floating around now against some of the party office bearers. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has in past two days spoken to several party candidates and urged them not to make such allegations in public but place them before appropriate party forum within the party in the greater interest of the party.
