Harish Rawat seeks to step down as Congress' Punjab in-charge as Uttarakhand polls loom

Even as the infighting in Congress continues, AICC Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat urged the party high command on Wednesday to relieve him of his duties. Taking to Twitter, he highlighted the need to devote full attention to either Punjab or Uttarakhand owing to the fact that both states are going to the polls early next year. Rawat, who served as the CM of Uttarakhand from 2014 to 2017 also thanked the people of Punjab and the state unit for giving him blessings and moral support.

Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat remarked, "Yesterday, unseasonal rain wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand. I could go to only a few places but I wanted to go everywhere to wipe the tears. But duty comes first and there were more expectations from me. I will be able to render justice to the place of work only if I render justice to my motherland."

"I have resolved to request the leadership that I should devote myself completely to Uttarakhand in the next few months. That's why I urge (Congress high command) to relieve me of my current responsibilities in Punjab. This is a request from Harish Rawat and he will follow the party's directive," he added. 

Role in Punjab politics

Amid the tiff between Navjot Singh Sidhu and Captain Amarinder Singh, he firmly threw weight behind the former cricketer by summoning a Congress Legislative Party meeting without keeping the latter in the loop. Pre-empting Congress' possible move of sacking him, Singh stepped down as the CM on September 18 owing to "humiliation" meted out by the party. Contending that his "closeness" to BJP leaders raises a question mark on his "secular credentials", Rawat asserted in a press briefing on October 1 that Congress always treated him with respect.

According to him, Amarinder Singh had failed to act on the 18-point formula in a time-bound manner leading to discontent among a large section of Congress MLAs. Rawat opined, "The MLAs said that if you don't call the CLP meeting, we are ready to take any step. He claimed that he didn't know that a CLP meeting was called. I am saying on oath that I tried contacting him for three days but I was unable to talk to our Chief Minister. The people of Punjab will understand this and vouch for it". 

On Wednesday, the ex-Uttarakhand CM slammed Singh for his willingness to forge an electoral understanding with BJP besides forming a new party. Making light of the former Punjab CM's concern for farmers, Rawat quipped, "Nobody is stopping Amarinder Singh from standing with the farmers. Will Punjab ever forgive the BJP or the Akali Dal"?