Ghulam Nabi Azad evades question on Harish Rawat's episode with Congress; 'Ask him'

Republic Media Network, on Friday, questioned Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on the turmoil in the party in Uttarakhand with Harish Rawat first expressing his dissatisfaction towards the party, and then reconciling with it. Evading the question with "I don't know what the present situation is", Azad underlined that when he served as president of the All India Youth Congress, Rawat was his joint secretary for 42 years. "Ask this question to him (Rawat)," Azad further said.

In a thread of tweets, Harish Rawat claimed that he was not getting the support of the party organisation at the grassroots level without which it will be difficult to fight the election. Without taking anyone's name, he accused the Congress leadership's representatives in the state of suppressing him.

'I have swum enough, now is the time for rest': Harish Rawat

"Isn't it strange that the organisational structure in most places is turning its back and playing a negative role instead of extending cooperation when we have to swim in the sea of elections? The power has left many crocodiles in the sea which we have to swim. The representatives of the people on whose instructions I have to swim have tied my hands and feet," Harish Rawat had said. 

"It has often come to my mind that enough is enough, Harish Rawat. I have swum enough, now is the time for rest," he conceded, adding, however, that he will face the challenges head-on instead of running away.

Harish Rawat's reconciliation with Congress 

Soon after Harish Rawat dropped the tweet, he was called for a meeting by the Congress high command. After the meeting, senior leader Harish Rawat affirmed that he is going to lead the party's campaign in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls. The 73-year-old added that the representatives of Congress will support him, and they will together lead the party to victory in the polls scheduled for 2022. 

"Kadam Kadam milaye ja, Congress ke jeet ke dhun gaye ja. Zingadi hai Uttarakhand ke vaaste, Uttarakhand par lutae jaa (Keep marching forward in unison, sing praises of the Congress, this life is for Uttarakhand, devote it to Uttarakhand)," Rawat said while addressing media after the meeting.