IN A SCENE now increasingly familiar in the Congress, the high command has summoned its Uttarakhand leaders Harish Rawat, Pritam Singh, Ganesh Godiyal, Kishore Upadhyay and other top leaders, to Delhi for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi Friday, as differences spill into the open two months ahead of Assembly elections in the state.
The reason is also notably familiar: the growing rift between Rawat, former chief minister and the Congress’s tallest leader in Uttarakhand, and AICC in-charge of the state Devender Yadav, who is seen as an “outsider” sent by Delhi. After Rawat made his displeasure public in a cryptic post, Godiyal, the PCC president, threw his weight behind the veteran.
Rawat is said to be unhappy over Yadav’s repeated pronouncements that the election will be fought under a collective leadership. He also believes Yadav is siding with a group led by Pritam Singh, the CLP head, who he feels are ranged against him, and that Yadav is micromanaging the Congress’s campaign while Rawat is officially the party’s campaign committee chief.
A 49-year-old two-time MLA, Yadav belongs to a wealthy family in Delhi with interests in both business and politics. His father Mahender Yadav, also known as Pradhanji, was a small-time Congress politician. A civil engineering degree holder, he entered the Congress “organisation system” some 20 years ago when the then Indian Youth Congress chief Randeep Singh Surjewala inducted him in his committee as a national general secretary.
In 2002, Yadav fought his first election. It was to the Delhi Municipal Corporation. He served as a corporator twice, 2002 and 2007, from Samaypur Badli. In 2008, he was elected to the Delhi Assembly from Badli seat. When the Congress suffered an unprecedented rout in 2013, Yadav was among the eight Congress candidates who managed to weather the storm.
His second stint as an MLA was brief since Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister in February 2014 and fresh elections were held a year later. This time Yadav lost, like all the other Congress candidates. He lost again from Badli in Assembly elections held last year.
The Congress, however, rewarded him in 2017, appointing him as an AICC secretary. He was given the task of assisting Avinash Pande, who was elevated as general secretary and given the charge of Rajasthan. Yadav was part of the AICC team involved in the party’s successful election efforts in Rajasthan.
In 2019, he was appointed working president of the Delhi Congress when the high command handed over the reins of the party to Sheila Dikshit in a surprise decision months before the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had won all the seven Delhi seats.
However, there was no dent in Yadav’s fortunes, and in September last year, he was appointed in charge of Uttarakhand.
Yadav’s insistence on collective leadership is not a surprise given the Congress’s reluctance to name a CM candidate before polls, which might ruffle feathers inopportunely. The only recent exception was Punjab, when the Congress announced Amarinder Singh as its CM candidate in 2017.
However, Rawat, and many say legitimately, feels that the stress on collective leadership takes away his primacy and makes him one among the equals. His contention is that the party should give him the lead role even if it doesn’t officially anoint him as the CM face.
Adding to Rawat’s insecurity is Yadav’s proximity to a group of leaders led by CLP leader Pritam Singh as well as to working president Ranjeet Rawat, AICC secretary Qazi Nizamuddin and state unit treasurer Aryendra Sharma. Once a close associate of Harish Rawat, Ranjeet Rawat is said to have commented earlier this year that the former chief minister now needs to take rest.
Rawat’s public outburst on social media, sources said, was calculated. “He perhaps wanted to go on the offensive and push Yadav and the others on the defensive so that he can retain the edge when it comes to ticket distribution,” a leader said.
The immediate trigger were developments ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Dehradun last week. Sources close to Rawat claimed his posters and cutouts were “purposely” removed from “main spots” on the eve of the meeting, and he was kept out of the seating arrangements on the dais. “Even the PCC was sidelined,” a leader said.
“Rawat is a shrewd politician. He has made it known that he is unhappy. He did not take any names but everybody knew who his target was. So now there is pressure on the other side. There will be pressure on Yadav too,” a leader said.
IN A SCENE now increasingly familiar in the Congress, the high command has summoned its Uttarakhand leaders Harish Rawat, Pritam Singh, Ganesh Godiyal, Kishore Upadhyay and other top leaders, to Delhi for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi Friday, as differences spill into the open two months ahead of Assembly elections in the state. The reason is also notably familiar: the growing rift between Rawat, former chief minister and the Congress’s tallest leader in Uttarakhand, and AICC in-charge of the state Devender Yadav, who is seen as an “outsider” sent by Delhi. After Rawat made his displeasure public in a cryptic post, Godiyal, the PCC president, threw his weight behind the veteran. Rawat is said to be unhappy over Yadav’s repeated pronouncements that the election will be fought under a collective leadership. He also believes Yadav is siding with a group led by Pritam Singh, the CLP head, who he feels are ranged against him, and that Yadav is micromanaging the Congress’s campaign while Rawat is officially the party’s campaign committee chief. A 49-year-old two-time MLA, Yadav belongs to a wealthy family in Delhi with interests in both business and politics. His father Mahender Yadav, also known as Pradhanji, was a small-time Congress politician. A civil engineering degree holder, he entered the Congress “organisation system” some 20 years ago when the then Indian Youth Congress chief Randeep Singh Surjewala inducted him in his committee as a national general secretary. In 2002, Yadav fought his first election. It was to the Delhi Municipal Corporation. He served as a corporator twice, 2002 and 2007, from Samaypur Badli. In 2008, he was elected to the Delhi Assembly from Badli seat. When the Congress suffered an unprecedented rout in 2013, Yadav was among the eight Congress candidates who managed to weather the storm. His second stint as an MLA was brief since Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister in February 2014 and fresh elections were held a year later. This time Yadav lost, like all the other Congress candidates. He lost again from Badli in Assembly elections held last year. The Congress, however, rewarded him in 2017, appointing him as an AICC secretary. He was given the task of assisting Avinash Pande, who was elevated as general secretary and given the charge of Rajasthan. Yadav was part of the AICC team involved in the party’s successful election efforts in Rajasthan. In 2019, he was appointed working president of the Delhi Congress when the high command handed over the reins of the party to Sheila Dikshit in a surprise decision months before the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP had won all the seven Delhi seats. However, there was no dent in Yadav’s fortunes, and in September last year, he was appointed in charge of Uttarakhand. Yadav’s insistence on collective leadership is not a surprise given the Congress’s reluctance to name a CM candidate before polls, which might ruffle feathers inopportunely. The only recent exception was Punjab, when the Congress announced Amarinder Singh as its CM candidate in 2017. However, Rawat, and many say legitimately, feels that the stress on collective leadership takes away his primacy and makes him one among the equals. His contention is that the party should give him the lead role even if it doesn’t officially anoint him as the CM face. Adding to Rawat’s insecurity is Yadav’s proximity to a group of leaders led by CLP leader Pritam Singh as well as to working president Ranjeet Rawat, AICC secretary Qazi Nizamuddin and state unit treasurer Aryendra Sharma. Once a close associate of Harish Rawat, Ranjeet Rawat is said to have commented earlier this year that the former chief minister now needs to take rest. Rawat’s public outburst on social media, sources said, was calculated. “He perhaps wanted to go on the offensive and push Yadav and the others on the defensive so that he can retain the edge when it comes to ticket distribution,” a leader said. The immediate trigger were developments ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Dehradun last week. Sources close to Rawat claimed his posters and cutouts were “purposely” removed from “main spots” on the eve of the meeting, and he was kept out of the seating arrangements on the dais. “Even the PCC was sidelined,” a leader said. “Rawat is a shrewd politician. He has made it known that he is unhappy. He did not take any names but everybody knew who his target was. So now there is pressure on the other side. There will be pressure on Yadav too,” a leader said.