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Straight fight between Congress and BJP, AAP stands no chance: Uttarakhand Congress campaign committee chairman Harish Rawat

The APN News team has talked to the Uttarakhand Congress campaign committee chairman Harish Rawat on various issues related to their party campaign, strategay, CM face and possibility of winning the state which is schedule to vote February 14.

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Harish Rawat

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.

India News

PM Modi says Congress badly exposed after Kharge’s comments on election promises

“Now, they stand badly exposed in front of the people!” the Prime Minister said.

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Reacting apparently to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment on poll promises, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the grand old party, saying they are badly exposed in front of the people.

In Karnataka, Congress is busier in intra-party politics and loot instead of even bothering to deliver on development, the Prime Minister said in a post on X. “Not only that, they are also going to roll back existing schemes,” he claimed.

The Congress Party is realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible, Modi said. “Campaign after campaign they promise things to the people, which they also know they will never be able to deliver. Now, they stand badly exposed in front of the people!” the Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Kharge made the guarantees remark while pulling up Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar over his statement that the state government would review the ‘Shakti’ guarantee.

“If we do not go as per the budget, we will go bankrupt and there will be no money to even develop roads. If this government fails, there will be nothing left to pass on to the next generation (of Congress leaders) except for the bad name and the latter has to bear the brunt for another 10 years,” he said while interacting with reporters.

However, Shivakumar on Friday said his statement on the ‘Shakti scheme’ was distorted and presented as if the Congress government in the state wanted to withdraw it.

“Check any state where the Congress has Governments today – Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana- the developmental trajectory and fiscal health is turning from bad to worse. Their so-called Guarantees lie unfulfilled, which is a terrible deceit upon the people of these states,” PM Modi said.

The victims of such politics are the poor, youngsters, farmers and women, who are not only denied the benefits of these promises but also see their existing schemes diluted, he added.

“The people of the country will have to be vigilant against the Congress sponsored culture of fake promises! We saw recently how the people of Haryana rejected their lies and preferred a Government that is stable, progress oriented and action driven. There is a growing realisation across India that a vote for Congress is a vote for non-governance, poor economics and unparalleled loot. The people of India want development and progress, not the same old,” said PM Modi.

In Himachal Pradesh, salaries of Government workers are not paid on time, PM Modi claimed. The Prime Minister said, in Telangana, farmers are waiting for the waiver they promised.

Previously, in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan Congress promised certain allowances which were never implemented for five years, he said. The Prime Minister said there are numerous such examples of how the Congress works.

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India News

Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah attends BJP leader Devender Rana’s last rites

Rana is survived by his wife, Gunjan Rana, their daughters Devyani and Ketki, and son Adhiraj Singh.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday paid the last rites of BJP leader Devender Singh Rana. Abdullah was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Ministers Satish Sharma and Javed Ahmed Rana, and Party Treasurer Shammi Oberoi.

The 59-year-old Rana, BJP MLA from Nagrota and brother of Union Minister Jitendra Singh, passed away on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana’s Faridabad.

Rana is survived by his wife, Gunjan Rana, their daughters Devyani and Ketki, and son Adhiraj Singh.

“The terrible news from late last night isn’t really sinking in. I know the last few years have been marked by our differences Devender but I prefer to focus on the fun times we shared together, the excellent work we did together & the memories. You have been taken from us all too soon & will be missed. May your soul rest in peace now DSR. My heart goes out to your family as I struggle to find the words to convey my condolences to them,” the Chief Minister posted on X.

Apart from Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat were among those who attended the last rites of Rana.

On his demise, the National Conference party said: “JKNC President Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Vice President & Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Devender Rana, MLA Nagrota. They expressed their heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and supporters, acknowledging his dedicated service and contributions to the people of J&K. The JKNC leadership and party members stand in solidarity with his loved ones during this difficult time.”

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the demise of Rana and said he was a veteran leader who worked diligently towards Jammu and Kashmir’s progress.

“Shri Devender Singh Rana Ji’s untimely demise is shocking. He had just won the Assembly polls and had also played a noteworthy role in making the BJP stronger in J&K. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with his family and supporters. Om Shanti,” PM Modi said on X.

In a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Rana, who was always dedicated to the peace and development of Jammu and Kashmir and the interests of the people, made an invaluable contribution to the progress of the region. His demise is an irreparable loss for the BJP family, he added.

BJP chief JP Nadda also paid tribute to the party leader and said: “His dedication to public service and contributions towards the development of the people of Jammu & Kashmir will be remembered. His departure is an irreparable loss to the party”.

Rana’s elder brother and Union Minister Jitendra Singh posted on X, “Untimely demise of my brother Sh Devender Singh Rana is a deep personal loss, which is not only irreparable but painful and the void created will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life. I sincerely thank all those standing by me and the family in these testing times”.

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India News

After India-China disengagement, Indian troops start patrolling Demchok sector in eastern Ladakh

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday that he interacted with Chinese soldiers at Bumla Pass during Diwali celebration with Indian Army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district.

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Two days after the disengagement between India and China, Indian troops started patrolling the Demchok sector in eastern Ladakh on Friday.

On Wednesday, both countries agreed to disengage and initiate coordinated patrols based on their understanding of the Line of Actual Control in the Demchok and Depsang sectors.

Patrolling by Indian troops in the Demchok sector of Eastern Ladakh kicked off Friday. Patrolling in the Depsang sector is expected to start soon, according to ANI. Coordinated patrolling means that both sides will be aware of each other’s patrol schedules.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday that he interacted with Chinese soldiers at Bumla Pass during the Diwali celebration with Indian Army personnel in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district.

Sharing a video of him interacting with the Chinese soldiers on X, Rijiju said: “After talking to Chinese soldiers and seeing the infrastructures, everyone will feel proud of India’s border development now.”

The Union Minister said he also celebrated Diwali at the Army Helipad in Tawang. “It felt proud to celebrate Diwali with brave soldiers. Our country is safe only because of their dedication and courage. Jai Hind!” the senior BJP leader said.

On Thursday, soldiers from India and China shared sweets at various border locations in the Ladakh sector to celebrate Diwali. The exchange occurred at Hot Springs, Karakoram Pass, Daulat Beg Oldi, KongkLa, and the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point.

Additionally, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi emphasised that rebuilding trust along the LAC would be a gradual process, aiming to revert to the status quo of April 2020. He detailed that key measures—disengagement, de-escalation, and buffer zone management—are vital for alleviating tensions between the two nations. He also noted that this process would occur in phases, with each stage focusing on diminishing hostilities.

Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong remarked that differences between neighboring countries like India and China are natural, but the critical aspect lies in how these differences are managed and resolved.

The border standoff began in eastern Ladakh in 2020 due to Chinese military actions and has led to prolonged tensions that have significantly affected relations between the two countries.

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