By Vikram Kilpady and Sanjay Raman Sinha

Uttarakhand will vote on February 14 in a single phase. APN News caught up with Congress campaign committee chairman Harish Rawat, a former chief minister and former union minister, on the day the party put out its list of candidates.

Question: How ready is the Congress for elections in the state?

Answer: The party will put out a list of chosen candidates shortly, we have chosen people and all preparations are on.

Question: What are the issues for the this time?

Answer: Development (vikas) is a big issue, it is lying dead. The slogan of double engine growth et al has failed miserably. People have been left to die during the coronavirus pandemic, there is no medicine, no beds or oxygen. The Kumbh testing scam has become a matter of international shame. Now people say the Kumbh is the biggest superspreader. I am extremely sad to hear it. The failure on all fronts lies with the state government.

It is sad that Uttarakhand tops the country on unemployment statistics. There are 28,000 vacant posts in government. When I was in government, I created 32,000 jobs, they haven’t done even 3,200 jobs.

Apart from unemployment, the rise in prices of commodities are hurting people. The LPG cylinder has gone beyond Rs 1000, petrol is expensive touching Rs 100, cooking oil price has gone skyhigh. Where is the money going? Ambani and Adani are getting rich while the poor are worse off. Poverty has risen along with the increase in prices.

The BJP has created political instability in the state. In Congress time, we had three chief ministers, the BJP has seen eight CMs. Both parties have had similar terms in power. This kind of instability has hit development and the aspirations of the people of the state.

Question: What is the essence of Uttarakhandiyat that you have used in the campaign this time?

Answer: Mandua (hill crops including millet), ganna (sugarcane) and shilp (crafts) are intrinsic to Uttarakhand’s syncretic culture. There is an element of modern farming against ancient subsistence on hill crops and crafts. The essence of Uttarakhandiyat is that these three need to be developed for people to grow in consonance with the state’s ethos.

How will you combat migration and exodus from the state?

Migration has been on for the last 25-30 years. The Congress has invested in education so that people migrate with education and not as helpless labourers flocking the cities for low-paid work. The exodus of recent times is due to lack of jobs and due to poverty. We will ensure people have economic alternatives to stay on in the state like millet and grain production.

Will the Congress follow one ticket for one family stance?

In politics, family has become important now unlike earlier when politics was based on principle and ideology. People in the family help you stay focused on minute issues. Yes, party workers also need to be recognised for their work. The party keeps a fine balance to meet aspirations of all groups of people.

Will the Congress welcome late CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s daughter into the party? Gen Rawat’s brother has got a BJP ticket.

We will welcome Gen Rawat’s daughter. I am devastated by the decision of the late General’s brother to join the BJP. Gen Rawat is a well-respected name in Uttarakhand. His father Lachchu Singh Rawat was a Congress minded person. He’s intrinsic to the ethos of Uttarakhand but joining the BJP despoils that legacy.

Your son and daughter are also looking for tickets this time?

My son and daughter have worked hard in places where only the BJP has won. They have done well. The decision is for the party to take, we will abide.

How does the return of Harak Singh Rawat impact the party and you? We’ve heard he is pushing for getting tickets allotted for his camp?

There is room in the party for constructive leadership and thought. Hope Harak Singh Rawat, who is like a younger brother to me, has seen things evolve over time. Ambition is not a bad thing in politics but it needs managing and packaging for when it can be fully channelised. He has not been pushing hard.

Are you the Congress’s Uttarakhand CM face?

The party leadership will decide these things and I will welcome the decision whatever it is. Even if opposition leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are attacking me as the lone Congress target, I am thankful. Leading the campaign itself has been an award of sorts for me.

A few weeks ago you seemed to be disappointed with things and tweeted about your unhappiness with the way things are.

We learn a lot from experience. I can say there is no bad blood. I did think I should retire but am not looking for options outside the Congress. I’m a Nehru Gandhi family loyalist and will remain one till I die. Instead of speaking internally, I chose to tweet it as a senior party worker so that the party can evaluate the situation and it was my duty to do so.

What went wrong in Punjab? There was talk of a revolt by MLAs.

The party had given Captain Amarinder Singh a lot of room to fix things. After the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib things became acute, the MLAs were on the verge of a revolt. Captain came twice, met the leadership, spoke and left for Punjab assuring of fixing things. Nothing happened. Over 40 MLAs said they can’t head into election year with him in charge. We called a CLP meeting. Instead of attending the CLP meet or finding out the reasons for the MLAs’ unhappiness, he chose to meet the Governor and submit his resignation. The Congress put its weight and faith in him but under whose and what influence, he chose to do what he did is visible now.

What do you make of the Aam Aadmi Party’s foray into Uttarakhand?

There is no room for AAP in Uttarakhand. The straight fight is between the BJP and the Congress. They may cut votes here and there. With such strong anti-incumbency against the BJP, the Congress will be the option people turn to.

What if you need AAP in a post-poll scenario to keep the BJP out?

We will win, Congress will keep the BJP out. AAP has to work hard (kayi saari pappad belne padenge). The differences and the milieu of Uttarakhand has to be internalised and understood by AAP and that will take time. Whatever it is, Delhi is a large municipality. You set out in the morning from one end, you can get home by the end of the day. Uttarakhand is a different beast. There are some districts where from one end to another will take a week or more given the uneven terrain. I have taken days to tour districts when I was a Lok Sabha MP.

What about the eternal Congress bugbear, factionalism?

I am lucky to be in a party which has so many talented people who have the interest of the people at heart. They will have their influence and following. But calling that factionalism is highly unfair. People who have influence want justice done to their aspirations and what they bring to the table.

The BJP has launched a powerful campaign on what it has done like the Kedarnath project etc and all-weather roads. What do you say to that?

It is wrong of the BJP to claim credit for all-weather roads. My government sent the proposal to make all-weather roads. Not BJP, it is a sin to claim false credit. Similarly, the Rishikesh-Karn Prayag railine which the BJP is tom-tomming was already a part of the Manmohan Singh government’s projects and budgeted for. The same with Tanakpur-Bageshwar line. Sonia Gandhi couldn’t come, so then Defence Minister A.K. Antony inaugurated it. Work began under the UPA but BJP came to power after that.

Another fact which is not well-known is about Mangalyaan. Manmohan Singh didn’t go ahead with its launch though it was up and ready. He took a principled stand that it should be launched after the elections. But PM Modi took credit for it. Same with the Banihal tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir and the longest-span bridge in Assam. All are Congress projects. So if the BJP is claiming credit for all this, the claim is as true as the one where it was said everyone will get Rs 15 lakh.

What do you think about the Haridwar hate speech incident?

Haridwar is a centre of faith, people take a dip in the cold Ganga there. The gods rained immortal nectar (amrit) here because of that. But why should such a centre of religion be used to make statements threatening to shoot Manmohan Singh, Gandhiji and threaten genocide of Muslims in a dharam sansad. The state government failed to take cognisance of the hate speech. Everyone including Akhara Parishad leaders have said such hate speech is wrong. Haridwar is a brand and shouldn’t be harmed like this.

What is the Congress agenda for Uttarakhand?

Health and welfare matters demand urgency. We need people to get their due pensions and employment has to be generated keeping in mind the requirements of development. We have campaigned hard this time with slogans like vote Congress to power at the Centre and the state to bring cooking gas prices below Rs 500. We have also promised gas subsidy.

Would the decision to douse the Amar Jawan Jyoti and merge it with the flame of the National War Memorial be a valid poll issue this time?

Eminently sad decision by the BJP government. It has been done without consultation and not taking veterans on board. It is about martyrs and we have to respect that. But what has happened is shocking.