Expelled Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat, who recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), returned to Congress on Friday amid fierce opposition from a section of Congress leaders and workers.

Rawat represents the Kotdwar seat and is likely to be fielded from the same seat in the upcoming Uttarakhand Assembly elections 2022.

While speaking to media, the senior politician said that if he manages to lead Congress to a victory with full majority on March 10, that would be his apology to the party.

“BJP thought of me as a ‘use and throw’; I was very upset. I didn’t break my friendship with Home Minister Amit Shah till the last moment, as I had promised,” he added.

It should be noted that Harak Rawat was instrumental in reducing the Harish Rawat-led Congress government to a minority in 2016. He was one of the 10 MLAs who had left the Congress in 2016 and joined BJP.

He has now asked the grand old party to field his daughter-in-law and former Miss India Anukriti Gusain from the Lansdowne Assembly constituency.

Opposition in Congress

During a press conference yesterday, Congress leaders said the party has not forgotten what Harak Rawat did to the Congress government by rising in revolt against it along with nine other MLAs.

“The Congress workers can never forget how he toppled the Harish Rawat government in 2016 by murdering democracy. We oppose his return to the party as well as a ticket to his daughter-in-law Anukriti from Lansdowne. She has nothing to do with the Congress,” party leader and a ticket contender for Lansdowne constituency Manish Sundriyal said.

“Anukriti Gusain is not even a primary member of the Congress. How can she be given a ticket,” Sundriyal asked.

The Congress workers said they wanted the party to give the Lansdowne ticket to a dedicated worker instead.