Internal squabbling in Cong over Rajya Sabha seat

When Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi accompanied by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat visited the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) headquarters at New Delhi to pay tributes to Gopinath Munde, it only established beyond any shadow of doubt the bonhomie between the two leaders.

But the affability between Gandhi and Rawat is not being liked by former Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna's followers in the ruling Congress here. It is widely understood in the Congress circles here that Gandhi had played a big role in removing Bahuguna early this year.

But since Rawat is facing an uphill task of finding a safe Assembly seat for him in the face of a strong Modi wave, Bahuguna is gearing up to seek his pound of flesh in the troubled water, especially after the ruling party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha election. Party sources said Bahuguna is demanding a Rajya Sabha seat for him after vacating his Sitarganj Assembly seat for Rawat.

But this proposition is not acceptable to the Rawat camp. "How can it be possible especially when Congress performance in the election was very bad at Sitarganj," said a top Congress leader.

The lone Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after BJP leader and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari won from Nainital Lok Sabha seat. Since the Congress and its ally, the Progress Democratic Front (PDF) enjoys the support of 40 MLAs in the 70-member house, the ruling party can easily send its candidate to the upper house. But as the Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant, the internal squabbling within the ruling Congress has only increased.

During his two-day stay at New Delhi, Rawat is understood to have also met the party president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the issue of his assembly seat which has virtually become a hot potato for the Congress.

The political rivalry between Bahuguna and Rawat is very old. Rawat had bitterly opposed the party high command's decision to install Bahuguna as chief minister in 2012. But despite vehement protest by Rawat, the party high command had refused to change its decision at that time.

But after the devastating flash floods last year, the party high command was not happy with the inept handling of the flood situation by Bahuguna which eventually led to his ouster. But after Bahuguna's demand for the Rajya Sabha seat, Rawat has also floated the idea of sending Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal to the Rajya Sabha and make Bahuguna as speaker.