The temperature has started rising in the politics of Uttarakhand and the coming month of June is going to be full of political turmoil. Both the major parties, BJP and Congress, have put in all their might to win the upcoming election battle in the state. A round of meetings and tours is about to begin from Delhi to Dehradun. On one hand, BJP’s senior leader and state in-charge Nitin Naveen will take the pulse of the organization by holding marathon meetings for three days in Dehradun, while on the other hand, Congress veteran and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will come to the grounds of Kumaon and Garhwal and sound the trumpet of the party’s campaign.
In fact, to sharpen the preparations for the Uttarakhand elections, the top leadership of both the parties have decided to take charge at the grassroots level this time. This week is going to be very decisive for both Uttarakhand Congress and BJP because only after this the future political direction of the state will be decided. While the BJP is trying to stop the anti-incumbency wave and strengthen its organization, the Congress is preparing to forget its internal impasse that has been going on for some time and go among the people afresh.
BJP state in-charge Nitin Naveen is reaching Dehradun on Thursday, 28 May. Tremendous enthusiasm is being seen in Uttarakhand BJP regarding his visit. Preparations have been made for his grand welcome at about 25 different places from Jolly Grant Airport to Dehradun. According to BJP State General Secretary Kundan Parihar, this visit is not just a formal meeting, but will be completely focused on organizational strengthening and review of preparations for Uttarakhand elections.
According to the scheduled program, on the very first day of the tour, Nitin Naveen will hold a very important meeting with the core committee of BJP. The next day i.e. the second day, he will sit face to face with the Chief Minister and Cabinet Ministers, where direct feedback will be taken on the functioning of the government and the implementation of government schemes at the grassroots level. It is being told that a concrete roadmap for the upcoming programs will be prepared by holding meetings with the officials of the state organization from the booth level, so that new enthusiasm can be instilled among the workers.
On the other hand, Congress has also prepared to come out of the backfoot and come into aggressive mode in the state. Congress State President Ganesh Godiyal has made it clear that Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day visit to the state on June 4 and 5 to sharpen the preparations for the Uttarakhand elections. This visit of Rahul is also special because he will try to develop both Kumaon and Garhwal regions.
According to the programme, on June 4 at 11:30 am, Rahul Gandhi will sound the election bugle by addressing a large public meeting in Almora. He will reach Pauri at around 3:30 pm on the same day, where he will be a part of the dialogue program with ex-servicemen. There is a big vote bank of soldiers and their families in Uttarakhand, which Rahul himself is handling the responsibility of cultivating. The next day, i.e. on the morning of June 5, he will hold a meeting with state Congress officials, former MLAs and prominent leaders in Dehradun and brainstorm on the local issues of the state. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has already camped in Almora regarding this visit of Rahul Gandhi.
The joining campaign, which was stopped after the infighting within the Uttarakhand Congress in the month of March, is now being started again from the first week of June. However, this time Congress is taking bold steps. Ganesh Godiyal clearly said that this time the entry of any leader will happen only after local equations and complete consent of the workers. Apart from the 12 leaders of the first list, 5 more new names have been sent to the central high command. It is being told that Sanjay Negi of Ramnagar can be given membership of the party in this second phase.
In fact, last time when the joining took place in bulk, senior leader and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, angry over his neglect, had distanced himself from active politics for 15 days. This time the Congress high command does not want to take the risk of angering Harish Rawat, which is why this time the opinion of the local organization has been kept paramount.
Certainly, these two big political movements in the first week of June will bring a new twist in the politics of Uttarakhand. Now it remains to be seen how much this organizational brainstorming of BJP and this public dialogue of Rahul Gandhi can touch the hearts of the people in the coming elections.
