Uttarakhand Congress President Kishor Upadhyay insists that the people of the state are angry with the Bharatiya Janata Party for having misused its power at the Centre to topple the Harish Rawat government. In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Upadhyay says the Congress has not been weakened by the exit of several senior leaders. He claims that these leaders will end up causing damage to the BJP, which they have since joined. Excerpts from the interview:
Why should Uttarakhand voters vote for the Congress?
It is only Congress that is focusing on the issues that are intrinsically Uttarakhandi. We want to take up the issues for which a separate state of Uttarakhand was formed. Chief Minister Harish Rawat's Uttarakhand Swabhiman Yatra focuses on this. On the other hand, the BJP wants to bulldoze its way through Uttarakhand simply on the dint of being in power at the Centre. People can see this difference, and for this very reason they will vote for the Congress.
The BJP says it can get development work done as it is in power at the Centre.
The BJP has misused its power at the Centre. It tried to topple a duly elected government in the state and imposed President's rule. It is now on the defensive, for the Central government has blocked our proposals for development work in the state. It has ignored our demands for a special category status.
Several senior leaders have left the Congress and joined the BJP. Hasn't that weakened your party?
They will actually cause damage to the BJP. There is a huge dissatisfaction in the rank and file of the BJP about these leaders joining that party, and also contesting as BJP candidates. The BJP will have no advantage on account of these leaders.
Rebels seem to be posing a problem to the Congress.
There are around seven to eight people from the party who have filed nomination as independents. However, they are not expected to cause much damage to the Congress' prospects. For example, Ayendra Sharma, who is contesting as an independent from my constituency (Sahaspur), was given the Congress ticket last time and he had lost badly.
Were you interested in contesting from Tehri?
I had actually requested the party leadership not to give me a ticket this time. However, the chief minister insisted that I contest. They chose to field me from Sahaspur. True, I have experience of having worked in Tehri, but people in Sahaspur remember me for the work that I did for the Sela Qui industrial area when I was the industries minister.
The Congress' campaign is completely focused on CM Rawat?
It is an excellent decision that the party leadership has taken. He is one of the tallest leaders of the state. He was involved in the Uttarakhand Andolan for a separate state. And he is best suited to achieve the objectives for which Uttarakhand was formed.
