A day ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly polls, Congress leader Harish Rawat on Sunday said that nobody in the party has any objections on his name as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Rawat said that the Congress is contesting the Assembly polls in Uttarakhand under his leadership.
On the issue of him not being announced as the Chief Ministerial candidate unlike Punjab, Rawat said that "the move a strategic matter".
Speaking to ANI, Rawat said, "I do politics of struggle, not power. The party has told me that the election campaign will be led by me. We are fighting to win the elections. Nobody in the party has any objections to my name as the Chief Ministerial candidate. No party member has expressed any objection to my name."
Stating that not announcing a CM face was part of the Congress strategy, Rawat said that "more than 40 per cent of the people want to see me as the CM candidate this time".
Asked about the contradiction between his statements on presenting the Dalit CM in the state and and yet running for the post, Rawat said that he indeed wants to see a a Dalit CM in the state. "However, there is no deadline for the wish to be fulfilled," said rawat.
"We need to get rid of some mentality after the 75 years of India's Independence. Following a change in Punjab, a Dalit CM face has been announced. I have prayed for the same for Uttarakhand. When you make such wishes, you do not give a deadline. But there is no time foundation for the prayer to become a reality. I have sought an opportunity from 'Ganga Maiya' that in the coming time, I can present a Dalit as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand," the Congress leader said.
The former chief minister also hit out at Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and called announcement to implement Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand after he is elected to power, a "jumla". "It is not within his Constitutional right to implement UCC in the state," said Rawat.
Rawat is in the electoral fray from the Lalkuwa Assembly seat in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections, which will go to the polls on Monday.
However, the Congress had announced change of seats of the party's campaign committee chairman Rawat and four other leaders in its third list.
The change has been done after the crisis within the party due to infighting among the leaders, as one of the working presidents of Uttarakhand Congress Ranjeet Rawat was uncomfortable with the Candidature of Harish Rawat from the Ramnagar Assembly Constituency.
The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
( With inputs from ANI )
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