ikas purush Tiwari shrinks in defeat

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By Ravindra Saini

Uttaranchal

Shocked over the poor performance of party candidates in Uttaranchal, the state Congress committee witnessed a bitter infighting. One of the prominent ministers from Tehri went to the extent of demanding the dismissal of one particular minister, holding him entirely responsible for the party'sdebacle in the state. The most humiliating part of the Congress defeat has been the glaring fact that the party trailed in almost 41 of the total 70 Assembly segments in the state. Congress has failed to register victory in any of the Assembly seats of Paruri, Rudraparyag and Chamoli, Tehri and Uttarkashi districts. The Congress won just one seat of Nainital this time, where its nominee K.C. Singh Baba won.

The Congress had placed its entire power behind the elections. Government machinery, ministers, MLAs and party leaders worked overtime to turn the tide but to no avail. People of the state appear to have rejected the Congress in the state.

The election results are being seen as a referendum on the performance of the Congress government. In Tehri and Almora, the Congress activists are blaming dissidence for the defeat of the party candidates. Vijay Bahuguna, who contested from Tehri against BJP'sManvendra Shah, made his unhappiness pubic and is camping in Delhi to complain against one state minister who allegedly sabotaged his campaign. In Almora, the Congressmen are placing the responsibility for Renuka Rawat'sdefeat at the door of the Chief Minister himself.

Meanwhile, talking to Organiser in Dehradun, the BJP state president, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has demanded immediate resignation of the Chief Minister, Naraian Dutt Tewari as he has lost the people'smandate. He said that the people of the state had expressed their resentment against the state government by inflicting a humiliating defeat upon the Congress. Shri Koshyari admitted that mismanagement at the Haridwar seat led to the party'sdefeat. He said his party could have done better even in Nainital had the candidate not been declared so late. He complained that discrepancies were found between the final voters? lists provided to the candidates and those used at the polling centres. The names of those belonging to the BJP were found to be missing from most of the polling lists.