Uttarakhand MP dies; Rawat faces selection conundrum

Within 11 days, two leaders of Uttarakhand have died, causing big worries before Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

Manorama Sharma Dobrial, a Congress Rajya Sabha member, on Wednesday died at a Gurgoan hospital, following a liver ailment.

On February 7, state Transport and Social Welfare Minister Surendra Rakesh had died of cancer. He had also passed away in a Gurgaon hospital.

The tenure of Dobrial in Rajya Sabha is considered to be the shortest in India, as she was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in November. Sharma was the first mayor of Dehra Dun and the first woman member of Parliament from Uttarakhand.

In both the cases, Rawat will have to fill three important vacancies caused by the death of the two leaders.

The election of Dobrial to Rajya Sabha in November had upset former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, who desperately wanted a seat in the Upper House. Despite the severe infighting in the ruling party, the chief minister had used his influence to give the Rajya Sabha seat to Dobirial.

Secondly, the Bahuguna camp had also been putting enormous pressure on the chief minister to fill the Cabinet berth following the death of Rakesh.

One major reason for the worries of Rawat is the two deaths have occurred at a time when the ruling Congress is witnessing the fresh infighting.

The vacancies caused by the death of the two leaders have created an unpleasant situation before Rawat to choose the right candidate to fill the Cabinet berth.

Bahuguna had recently threatened to hold a "janakrosh rally" against the government on February 15, as he was denied the Rajya Sabha seat by the party high command. But later, he cancelled the rally.

Rawat will also have to choose a candidate shortly to contest from Bhagwanpur constituency in Haridwar district, which was represented by Rakesh.

Though Rakesh was a member of the Progressive Democratic Front, a political organisation of independent members of legislative Assembly who are sharing power in the Congress-led government in the state, he was expelled by the Bahujan Samaj Party last year for anti-party activities.

When contacted, state Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay indicated all the issues concerning the deaths of Rakesh and Dobriyal would be settled by the party high command. "All these issues will have to be solved at the highest level," said Upadhyay.