By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 5 Mar: A social media post by veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat became viral today. In his post, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat called upon the Leader of the Opposition and veteran Congress leader Yashpal Arya to contest the Parliamentary Election from Almora Lok Sabha (reserved constituency) seat. He, however, has added that in case Arya decides not to contest, the parliamentary election, then the Congress ticket should go to Pradeep Tamta. It may be recalled that Pradeep Tamta, a former Rajya Sabha MP, is considered to be a close confidante of Harish Rawat. In his social media post, Rawat has also conceded that it is a huge challenge for the Congress to defeat BJP in the coming Parliamentary Elections as the vote bank and the vote share of the Congress party have been decreasing since 2014 due to poor election management.
Rawat said that irrespective of whosoever is fielded by the Congress party from Almora, he would sincerely work towards ensuring victory for the party candidate. Rawat added that, this time, the challenge in the elections is more difficult. He asserted that he had had expressed concern about the poor election management during the past elections and he still stands by his opinion.
Rawat further claimed that every party leader including him is committed to work s under the leadership of State President Karan Mahara and Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya. He added that the Lok Sabha elections are being held under extremely difficult and extraordinary circumstances. He reminded that he had taken up the job of election management in the 2012 by[1]elections. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party had had to face anti[1]incumbency tendencies of the state and the centre. Despite the circumstances, the contest was good. In 2019, the election management could not be done well due as the then state party president being busy with his own elections and the physical inability of the Leader of the Opposition. The veteran Congress leader asserted that no one in the party has any right to doubt his contribution to the party and that he has always stayed positive. He added that with increasing age, his capacity to work equally hard is affected and that the party should keep its expectations from him keeping this in mind. Otherwise too, it is the job of the Captain and the coach to lead from the front, Rawat added.
