DEHRADUN: Cabinet minister in Uttarakhand government Harak Singh Rawat is in news and this time for his comment that there are no permanent friends and adversaries in politics.
The minister's remarks, which he made on his birthday on Saturday, have sparked speculations. "It feels as if the minister is sending messages to the leadership. This statement is not a vague one but a clear indication that he is keeping his options on the table. It includes going back to Indian National Congress," Jay Singh Rawat, a Dehradun-based political analyst, told The New Indian Express.
Reacting to this, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said, "It is for him to decide on his next course of action. Congress party has always respected diverse views and democratic values."
Leader of opposition in Uttarakhand legislative assembly and MLA from Haldwani seat Indira Hridayesh has invited Rawat to contest on a Congress ticket. "I have said it earlier and I am saying this again. He is welcome to contest from the Congrees party. He must be feeling suffocated. He was given independence and respect when he was a minister in Congress government," he said.
Earlier, Rawat had said that he will not contest the 2022 state assembly elections which kicked off rumors that he is not happy with the current government.
Rawat was one of the nine rebels who left Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2016. Later he contested from Kotdwar seat and won the elections. He was given a cabinet seat with the state forest department portfolio and other ministries as well.
Harak Singh Rawat has a 31-year long political career and is known for changing parties. He was the youngest minister in the Kalyan Singh government in 1991 in the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh.
He left the BJP in 1996 to join the Bahujan Samaj Party and joined the Congress in 1998 after which he won the state assembly elections from Lansdowne of Pauri district to become a cabinet minister in Narayan Dutt Tiwari government. He won again in 2007 elections and acted as leader of opposition for the party for five years in the state assembly for Congress.
In 2012, Rawat won again from Rudraprayag and was given a cabinet berth in Congress government.