Harak Rawat to join Cong unconditionally; daughter-in-law may fight Uttarakhand election

Facing opposition over his re-entry into the Congress party, former BJP Minister Harak Singh Rawat is likely to be denied a ticket for the Uttarakhand election. Previously, he had expressed willingness to apologise to Harish Rawat even a hundred times after the latter asked him to accept the "mistake" of switching allegiance from Congress to BJP which led to the collapse of his government. As per sources, the expelled BJP leader will be allowed to join the Sonia Gandhi-led party without any pre-conditions.

In order to mollify him, his daughter-in-law Anukriti Gusain is expected to be fielded as a candidate in the upcoming Assembly polls. While Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami did not specifically name Gusain, he made it clear that the pressure exerted by Harak Singh Rawat to demand tickets for his kin was the reason for his ouster. Moreover, sources told Republic TV that Rawat will be considered for a ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP expels Harak Singh Rawat

The dissent in the BJP state unit resurfaced after leaders such as Harak Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat and Bishan Singh Chuphal were snubbed for the CM's post. On October 11, disgruntled BJP Minister Yashpal Arya joined the Sonia Gandhi-led party with his MLA son Sanjeev Arya. 

Having served as an MLA in both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Harak Singh Rawat has been a part of BSP and Congress in the past.

Switching allegiance from the Sonia Gandhi-led party to BJP in 2017, he won from the Kotdwar Assembly constituency and became a minister in the state government. Sources indicated that Rawat has held several meetings with Congress MLA Pritam Singh in the recent past. While he was reportedly upset over the BJP government allegedly dragging his feet on setting up a medical college in Kotdwar, the issue was resolved after Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami gave his approval for the same.

However, on January 16, he was not only sacked from the state Cabinet but also expelled from BJP for 6 years. Reacting to this, he opined, "They (BJP) didn't talk to me once before taking such a big decision. If I hadn't left Congress to join BJP, I would have resigned from BJP four years ago. I don't have much interest in being a minister, I just wanted to work".

Previously, sources hinted that other Congress-turned-BJP MLAs such as Kunwar Pranav Singh 'Champion', Shaila Rani Rawat, Shailendra Mohan Singhal and Pradeep Batra are also seeking to rejoin the Sonia Gandhi-led party.