The Congress has brought back former MLA Ganesh Godiyal, 59, as its Uttarakhand chief, replacing Karan Mahara whose term ended in April, among other changes on Tuesday night made by the party, with the 2027 Assembly elections in mind.
Pritam Singh, former state Congress chief (2017-21) and the MLA from Chakrata, has been appointed the head of the party campaign committee, while former BJP minister Harak Singh Rawat is the new chairman of the Congress election management committee.
Mahara, a two-time MLA from Ranikhet, had taken over as the PCC chief in 2022 from Godiyal. He had been on extension since April. Mahara was reportedly keen on devoting more time to his constituency as elections approach, and has now been made a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee.
The previous leadership line-up had led to accusations against the Congress of favouring Kumaon leaders, with Mahara, a Thakur, Deputy CLP leader Bhuwan Chandra Kapri, a Brahmin, and CLP Yashpal Arya, from the Scheduled Caste, all belonging to the region.
The new appointments represent all the key caste groups from both the regions of the state, including Garhwal. While Godiyal is a Brahmin from Garhwal, Pritam Singh is a Rajput from Dehradun who hails from the Jaunsar Bawar region that enjoys ST status. Arya and his deputy Kapri have been retained.
A conspicuous part of the changes announced Wednesday was the limited role for former chief minister and Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat. Godiyal was once a close associate of Harish Rawat, but there has reportedly been a fallout since August, when Rawat supported Pritam Singh as the PCC chief.
Godiyal made his electoral debut in 2002, and came to attention by pulling off a stunning victory against senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. In 2007, however, Godiyal lost to Pokhriyal.
In 2012, Godiyal contested from the Srinagar seat and narrowly defeated the BJP’s Dhan Singh Rawat. In 2017, history repeated itself and he lost to Rawat. Appointed Uttarakhand Congress chief in 2021, Godiyal suffered a setback a year later when he suffered a second successive defeat from Srinagar to Rawat in the Assembly elections. He gave way to Mahara as PCC chief soon after.
Godiyal thanked “all the workers who stood with me” following his return as Congress president. “I vowed to establish a government in this state which will end the culture of corruption. I will work for the betterment of the state and its people. The current government has been running with an attitude of dictatorship and corruption. We will break this culture,” he said.
The appointment of Harak Singh Rawat, a Rajput leader from Pauri Garhwal, may face controversy as he has been at the centre of the forest tree felling and illegal construction cases in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, with the Enforcement Directorate and CBI probing him. Congress sources said that any action by the Central agencies against Rawat now will be portrayed as a political witch-hunt.
The sidelining of Harish Rawat is another rap on the knuckles for the ex-CM after the 2022 loss – the party’s second successive one to the BJP in the Assembly polls. Many Congress leaders believed it was a result of factionalism, stoked by the Congress veteran. The Harish Rawat faction had been at the fore in the polls.
After its dismal loss, the party sent a message by picking Harish Rawat’s brother-in-law Mahara to head the party while pushing him to the background.
On Tuesday night, the Congress also shuffled its district presidents, promoting new, young faces and repeating only a few of the 27.
The party is hoping that the new look, besides the discontent apparent among the public following paper leak incidents, protests demanding better health services in the hills and recently by the Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Limited workers seeking regularisation, will help it mount a challenge to the BJP in 2027.
Party senior vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said the decisions by the high command, “weighing in the potential and competence of senior leaders”, will help “rejuvenate” the party. He also predicted that the elections could be held earlier, in December 2026, given the Kumbh Mela scheduled for early 2027.
Among the challenges the party is facing, Dhasmana listed the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, claiming that “the poor and minorities in at least 20 seats in the Terai region might be affected”.