Sanjay Gandhi picked Harish Rawat for Almora LSseat

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 11

Harish Chandra Singh Rawat, who emerged victorious after 53 days of political turmoil that began on March 18 in Uttarakhand, has been a tough fighter since he started his political career as a village-level politician in 1980s. Rawat came in contact with Congress leader late Sanjay Gandhi before the emergency in 1975 and stood with him. During the Shah Commission period when Sanjay was under the heat of hundreds of cases filed against him for reported excesses during the emergency, Rawat was among the few Congress workers who remained with him at the time of the crisis and won his confidence.

Sanjay Gandhi shortlisted his team of young leaders for the 7th Lok Sabha elections as the Janata Party regime was short-lived. Harish Rawat got the ticket for the Almora Lok Sabha seat in place of Narendra Singh Bist, the then sitting MP. “We still remember the young Rawat, who came with some of his close confidants to campaign. He was ignored by old Congress workers who were unhappy at the nomination of such a young and novice person from the constituency,” says Gopal Dutt Oza, former Didihat MLA and senior Congressman in Pithoragarh district.

Rawat won the Lok Sabha elections from Almora in 1980, the seat he won again in the 8th and 9th Lok Sabha elections as well. “This also taught Harish Rawat the significance of remaining in close contact with people of his constituency. He practised it throughout his political life and never let go any opportunity to establish contact with his voters. “This virtue made Harish Rawat a people’s leader in the Almora constituency,” says Oza.

After becoming the Lok Sabha member from Almora, Rawat started building his own team in every district of the parliamentary constituency. He focused on neglected and low profile leaders and started encouraging them. Rawat maintained patience and a fighting spirit after BJP candidate Jiwan Sharma defeated him in the 10th Lok Sabha elections in 1991. Later, Bachi Singh Rawat defeated him in the 11th,12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabha poll from Almora.

He emerged as a INTUC leader, besides remaining a Sewa Dal leader during Narasimha Rao’s government at the Centre. “Like a true Congressman, Harish Rawat always won the confidence of the party high command,” says Pradeep Tamta, former Almora MP and Rawat’s close confidant.

He was denied chief ministership after the formation of Uttarakhand when the Congress won the first ever state Assembly elections under his leadership. Later, he was made a member of the Rajya Sabha in 2004. The shifting of his constituency from Almora to Haridwar in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll again revived his political fortunes. He won the Lok Sabha seat and was made a Union minister in the UPA-II government. After the June 2013 disaster, Vijay Bahuguna was removed as Chief Minister and Harish Rawat fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.