IANS/Dehradun


Vijay Bahuguna was yesterday sworn in as chief minister of Uttarakhand amid strong dissent from a section of Congress workers owing allegiance to party leader Harish Rawat.
Bahuguna was the administered oath of office at a simple ceremony by Governor Margret Alva.
The swearing-in came amid demand by a section of Congress leaders in Uttarakhand that federal Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat be given the top job.
Rawat, who is the party MP from Hardwar, was in contention for the chief minister’s post along with a few other leaders but lost out to Bahuguna.
Bahuguna, 65, was chosen as leader of the Congress legislature party (CLP) by party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening.
Supporters of Rawat, including party MP Pradeep Tamta, came out in the open to oppose the decision.
Tamta said there was an understanding that the CLP leader will be chosen from among the legislators but an MP had been chosen for the post. He said “injustice” had been again done to Rawat adding Rawat was denied a chance to be the chief minister when the party came to office in 2002.
Congress sources said Rawat wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressing his displeasure.
However, Congress spokesman Raashid Alvi reaffirmed that a decision had been taken and it was acceptable to all party workers.
“The decision of the Congress high command is acceptable to all the party workers,” Alvi said.
Bahuguna told reporters in Dehradun earlier that he will form his cabinet over the next few days after consulting the party high command.
The Congress had performed marginally better than the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls securing 32 of 70 seats. The BJP won 31 seats.
The Congress secured support of three independents and the lone legislator of Uttarkhand Kranti Dal (P). The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has three legislators, has also decided to support the Congress in the hill state.
Bahuguna is described by friends as a simple man who loves good food and believes in transparent governance.
Barring political veteran Narayan Dutt Tiwari, rarely has a coronation in Uttarakhand brought smiles on so many faces in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
But for Bahuguna, son of the late Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, there is plenty of goodwill from UP - a state where he was born and where he became a high court judge in Allahabad.
Rohit Nandan, chairman and managing director of Air India, a first cousin of Bahuguna, speaks of his down to earth persona.
Nandan said Bahuguna was largely a “pious soul who is at home with his love for food and films. He is a foodie and loves being himself.”
Chuckled sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who heads the Congress in UP: “My brother is indeed a foodie, a non-vegetarian who loves to dig into white meat.”
Having served as a lawyer and then a high court judge in Allahabad and Mumbai, Bahuguna got his initial grounding in politics in the 70’s when his father sent him on political errands around the Paudhi, Garhwal and Kumayun regions as his election agent.
Twice elected to the Lok Sabha, Bahuguna, many expect, could usher in an era of transparency and pro-poor reforms in Uttarakhand.