By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 21 Aug: Veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat and former PCC Chief Ganesh Godiyal have been included in the new Congress Working Committee announced by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, none of the party leaders from Uttarakhand has been nominated as a permanent member. While, former Chief Minister and former Union Minister Harish Rawat has been accommodated as a permanent invitee, Ganesh Godiyal has been accommodated as a special invitee in the CWC by the Congress High Command.
The new CWC is currently a 47 member body and is the top decision making body within the Congress though it is, more often than not, the Party High Command that takes key decisions instead of the CWC. One may soon see new All India Congress Committee (AICC) office bearers, following rejig of the CWC, as officially there is no office bearer in AICC currently apart from the Party President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Sources within the party claim that, as far as Uttarakhand is concerned, veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat’s say matters more than any other leader’s in party matters. The new development proves this point once again, as the Pritam Singh faction, considered a rival to the Harish Rawat faction, has been ignored by the CWC. Godiyal is relatively a junior leader as compared to other party seniors like Pritam Singh, Yashpal Arya or Harak Singh Rawat.
Congress leaders have expressed happiness at the inclusion of Harish Rawat and Ganesh Godiyal. In a statement issued today, State Congress President Karan Mahara, while congratulating Harish Rawat and Ganesh Godiyal, said that Uttarakhand has been nominated as a permanent invitee member of the Congress Working Committee. Ganesh Godiyal has been nominated as a special invitee member of the Working Committee. He claimed that Congress has given due representation to the state at the central level, for which all Congress members express their gratitude to the central leadership.
Mahara has congratulated state in-charge Devendra Yadav and Gurdeep Singh Sappal on the state getting due representation in the CWC and expressed confidence that, under their able guidance, the Congress party organisation in Uttarakhand will be strengthened and the party win the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
PCC Vice President (Organisation) Mathuradutt Joshi has also congratulated Rawat and Godiyal on their nomination. He added that the dedication of Devendra Yadav, Harish Rawat and Ganesh Godiyal to the Congress party in Uttarakhand is exemplary.
Mathuradutt Joshi admitted that, at present, the Congress party is going through a difficult phase in the country and the state. Attempts are being made by the ruling party to destroy democracy and weaken the democratic institutions. In such difficult times, the party has to unite the Congressmen from all over the country and ensure a win at the Centre.
