The situation in Uttarakhand Congress is worrying.
The Sunday Mail
Dehradun. The Congress high command is busy searching for new district presidents in Uttarakhand under the Organization Creation Program to strengthen the party. Consistently losing elections are trying to appoint their own people as district presidents. These same losers will contest the elections to be held in 14 months. Finding candidates is a major challenge for the Congress party in today’s circumstances. The Congress party has been caught in a cycle of continuous defeats for the last two decades. In the last five assembly elections, out of a total of 350 seats, the Congress won approximately 120 and lost 230. Similarly, in the last five Lok Sabha elections, it lost 18 out of a total of 25 seats. Congress has failed to win a single seat in three consecutive Lok Sabha elections.
In 2017, the party won only 11 seats, and in 2022, this number increased to 19—even if combined, it is still six seats short of a majority. In contrast, the BJP won 57 seats in 2017 and 47 in 2022, taking the total to 104 seats—a near-majority victory for three consecutive elections. Clearly, the BJP is one election ahead of the Congress.
But the question is: despite so many defeats, why are Uttarakhand Congress leaders considered “big leaders” in the national Congress?
Take the example of Pritam Singh, who has consistently won the Chakrata seat. This is a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes, previously held by his father, Gulab Singh, during his time in Uttar Pradesh. However, the Congress has consistently lost the four seats surrounding this family seat—Vikasnagar, Sahaspur, Purola, and Dhanaulti. Vikasnagar has been held by the BJP twice, while Sahaspur and Dhanaulti have only been won by the Congress once. Despite this, Pritam Singh has not only served as the President and Leader of the Opposition of the Uttarakhand Congress, but is also a member of the Central Election Committee and a potential contender for the post of future Chief Minister.
This time, the BJP has further strengthened its political dominance by winning 13 out of 14 assembly seats in the Pauri parliamentary constituency. Congress experimented several times in the Yamkeshwar seat, but each time it ended in defeat. In Chaubattakhal, outside candidates were given tickets in 2012 and 2017, losing by 2,000 and 7,500 votes, respectively. In 2022, liquor baron Keshar Singh Negi was given the ticket, and he too lost by 12,000 votes. This clearly indicates that the influence of Satpal Maharaj and the BJP is steadily growing in the Chaubattakhal constituency.
Ganesh Godiyal, a prominent Congress leader, is considered an eloquent and energetic leader, but his electoral performance has been poor. He has contested six elections so far (five assembly and one Lok Sabha), losing four of them. The party repeatedly reposed its faith in him from the Srinagar (formerly Thalisein) seat, but he lost in 2007, 2017, and 2022. Despite this, he was renominated for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, losing by 1.36 lakh votes. Similarly, Surendra Singh Negi from Kotdwar has also lost three out of five times. Congress’s defeat in the Pauri region is no longer merely a strategic mistake, but a permanent political trend.
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s political career has also been a mix of repeated defeats and experiments. He, his wife, son, and daughter have contested a total of 16 elections, winning only five. He became an MP from Haridwar in 2009, 20 years after the 1989 election, but a series of defeats returned—losing two seats while serving as Chief Minister in 2017, losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, and failing to win the Assembly elections in 2022. Only his daughter, Anupama Rawat, won in 2022, but his son, Virendra Rawat, lost from Haridwar in 2024. Nevertheless, Rawat harbors aspirations of becoming Chief Minister in 2027.
Leader of the Opposition, Yashpal Arya, has been a six-time MLA from the Congress and once from the BJP. Despite serving as Assembly Speaker and a minister, he always considers reserved seats safe. He lacks the political courage to contest against BJP Minister Rekha Arya from the reserved seat of Someshwar. Former MP Pradeep Tamta, too, lacks the courage to contest the seat, which falls within his Lok Sabha constituency.
State Congress President Karan Mahra comes from a political family. He, too, has won only twice in four elections—and that too on a family seat.
Harak Singh Rawat’s situation is like “half Congress, half BJP.” His daughter-in-law and associates are in the BJP, while he himself remains in the Congress, teetering between accusations and discipline. In 2022, the Congress gave his daughter-in-law a ticket from Lansdowne, where she lost badly and returned to the BJP.
Among such leaders, the Congress lacks candidates for nearly 50 seats for 2027. Those who consider themselves contenders are those who have lost three or four times. There are no candidates for all three seats in Uttarkashi; the former MLA in Tehri has joined the BJP. Of the ten seats in Dehradun district, Congress has won only one tribal seat, having faced repeated defeats in the rest, with no candidate for a single seat.
The situation in the Pauri parliamentary constituency is even worse—the BJP holds 13 of the 14 seats here. Ganesh Godiyal received a ticket from the Srinagar seat five times in a row, but he has lost the last two elections.
The situation in the Kumaon region is no different. Former MP Pradeep Tamta was elected to the Rajya Sabha after losing in 2014, yet he was again given a Lok Sabha ticket in 2019 and 2024—and lost both times. Congress fielded Prakash Joshi, who had twice lost the assembly elections, from Nainital. Despite Congress having MLAs in the 14 assembly seats falling under the Nainital parliamentary constituency, Prakash Joshi lost by a huge margin of approximately 3.36 lakh votes.
It is clear that the Uttarakhand Congress is currently in a state of leadership. Leaders who have been repeatedly rejected by the public dominate the party, leaving no room for new faces. The Congress party has been unable to form a State Congress Committee for the past four years. As a result, the party appears distant from the public, mired in self-indulgence—and the public has moved on, accepting it as history.
