DEHRADUN: After opposition from Congress veteran Harish Rawat, rebel BJP Harak Singh Rawat reached out to him, saying that he was ready to apologise 100 times. Ousted recently from the Uttarakhand cabinet, Harak Singh had led a rebellion with eight other Congress MLAs, ministers in 2016 and joined the BJP. The ousted minister wants ticket for himself from Kedarnath and for his daughter-in-law from Lansdowne.
“He (Harish Rawat) is my elder brother. I can apologise to him a hundred times,” Harak Singh said on Tuesday. Party insiders said Harak Singh will be provided entry in the Congress on certain conditions, including issuing an apology for what he did in 2016 and only one ticket would be allotted to him.
“This time the party has adopted the formula of ‘One Family, One Ticket’. Exception may be Yashpal Arya. Harak Singh will get entry into the party if he agrees. The other point is that he should issue a public apology for 2016,” said a party leader.
Sources said Harak Singh can join the party with his daughter-in-law on Wednesday even as Kedarnath Congress MLA Manoj Rawat joined the ranks of leaders protesting the return of the rebel BJP leader.
Dismissed from the cabinet by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and suspended from the BJP for six years on January 16, Harak Singh has a history of changing sides. His political career started in 1991 when he won from Pauri and was made tourism minister.