By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 13 Apr: Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami, who was on his way to Dehradun again threatened to resign from the Congress party, today. While speaking to media, he claimed that a large number of party MLAs and other leaders were angry and disappointed with the latest developments within the party. He also said that it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay in the party for which he had worked so hard till now. He said that he would take an appropriate decision as per the wishes of the people of his constituency. He said that in case the people so wished, he would also be willing to resign as MLA to enable Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to contest from Dharchula. He said that, soon, a meeting of a number of party MLAs would be held in Dehradun in this regard.
Dhami said that in the past, too, he had resigned from Dharchula to enable the then CM, Harish Rawat, to contest from there, but reminded that he got nothing in return for the sacrifice and was just appointed one of the many Secretaries in the PCC even though many others in the party who had lost elections had been appointed as General Secretaries. He, however, added that he had nothing personal against Karan Mahra being appointed as PCC Chief or Yashpal Arya being appointed as Leader of the Opposition but there was no doubt that the claims of many seniors had been ignored. It was said that he was close to Harish Rawat but he did not have anything personal even against the late Indira Hridayesh and considered her to be like his mother.
Dhami said that after the massive defeat of the Congress in Uttarakhand, the resignation of PCC Chief Ganesh Godiyal had been ordered by the Party High Command but the leader in charge of the party, Devendra Yadav, had continued to be in charge of the party affairs in Uttarakhand despite a dismal performance. He alleged that before the elections, it was Devendra Yadav who had actively encouraged factionalism in the party.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Badrinath MLA Rajendra Bhandari is also among those who are angry for being ignored for the post of Leader of the Opposition. Yesterday, he even called on Congress Secretary Devendra Yadav in New Delhi to register his protest according to party insiders.
Although some party leaders led by Yashpal Arya are trying to calm the dissidence in the party and to unite the party leaders, their efforts do not seem to be bearing any fruits. It is being claimed that, tonight, around ten dissident party MLAs could hold a meeting in Dehradun to decide on the future course of action. On the other hand, some other sources stated that any such meeting would be part of pressure tactics only and no one would actually be resigning. Even others claimed that at least 3 MLAs were more than eager to resign, including Dhami.
