Dehradun : Knowing well the nitty-gritty of Congress politics, the 87-year-old veteran party leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari used it fully, flexed his muscles and thereby managed to get the party tickets for two of his people for the Uttarakhand vidhan sabha elections to be held on Jan 30.
Seeing that he had been totally sidelined by the party high command, as he was neither called for the rally at Gauchar which was to be addressed by the party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, not for the rally of the party general secretary, Rahul Gandhi held at the Parade Ground, Tiwari being an old party hand knew full well how to make the high command see things his way.
He had his hatchet man and spokesperson of the Nirantar Vikas Samiti, of which he is the patron, announce that the organization would be contesting seats in 60 of the 70 assembly segments.
This literally had the effect of a cat being left amongst the pigeons for the Congress, keen to come to power in this small mountain state, could not have pro-party rivals in 60 vidhan sabha seats.
Though initially the Congress high command also did not wish to bow down and did not announce the name of the two persons that Tiwari was seeking party tickets for in its list, but with the date of filing of nominations indicating that Samiti would have its candidates in the filed, it eventually buckled.
Tiwari’s close confidante, Ayendra Sharma, though a rank outsider in a late night adjustment, has been given the ticket from the Sahaspur assembly segment in Dehradun district and cancelled the ticket of Manoj Joshi from the Kashipur vidhan sabha seat in Kumaon to accommodate Tiwari’s nephew Manish Tewari.
This has about fulfilled the requirements of the veteran Congress leader who fell from party graced after his reported sexpolits in the Andhra Pradesh Raj Bhawan.
Seeing the Congress high command ceding to his demands, Tiwari showed his political colours yet again.
The Nirantar Vikas Samiti not only put on hold declaring its list of candidates for the elections but he immediately issued a statement that he is a true and loyal soldier of the Congress and will only support the party candidates in the Jan 30 elections.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
