A tweet by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress poll campaign head Harish Rawat, in which he claims the party organisation is hindering instead of helping him, has sent tremors around the political circle in the hill state, where Assembly elections are due in a few months.

In a Facebook post and a series of tweets made from his official Twitter account, Rawat said “satta (power)” has “left several crocodiles in the poll ocean” he has to swim, and the representatives of those on whose orders he is swimming are tying up his hands.

At a press conference later, he refused to elaborate on his posts.

“Hai na ajeeb si baat, chunav rupi samundra ko tairna hai, sahyog ke liye sangthan ka dhancha adhikansh sthano par sahyog ka haath aage badhne ke bajay ya to muh pher karke khada ho ja raha hai ya nakaratmak bhumika nibha raha hai. Jis samundra me tairna hai satta ne wanha kai magarmachha chhor rakhe hain (It is strange how I have to swim in the ocean of election. Instead of stretching its arms for help, the organisational structure is either ignoring me or playing a negative role. The leadership has left several crocodiles in the ocean where I have to swim),” Rawat said on Facebook and Twitter.

"Jinke Aadesh pe tairna hai, unke numainde mere haath paanv bandh rahe hain. Mann me bahut baar vichar aa raha ke Harish Rawat ab baut ho gaya, bahut tair liye, ab vishram ka samay hai. Phir chupke se mann ke ek kone se awaaz uth rahi hai ‘na dainyam na palayanam’ badi uhapoh ki sthiti me hun. Naya varsh shayad raasta dikha de. Mujhe vishwas hai ke Bhagwan Kedarnath ji is sthiti me mera margdarshan karenge (The representatives of those on whose orders I have to swim are tying up my hands and feet. On several occasions, it comes to my mind that I have swum enough and it is time to rest. Then another voice rises, asking me to never be helpless and never run away. I am in a dilemma. May the new year show me my path. I am sure that Bhagwan Kedarnath will show me the way),” he added.

Addressing a press conference minutes after the post, Rawat (73) said he will talk about all he said in the post later on. “The press conference today is on the issue of employment in the state and how the unemployed are in pain. The things I have said in tweets, I will talk on that some other time,” Rawat said.

Congress organisation general secretary Mathura Dutt Joshi recently said the conversation started by Rawat of ‘Uttarakhandiyat’, or the spirit of Uttarakhand, will help the party.

“Harish Rawat is a very popular leader in the state and he has around 7 to 10 per cent of his individual votes in the state,” Joshi had said in a recent conversation with The Indian Express. “It doesn’t matter who is going to be our CM candidate tomorrow, that is something the party has to decide, but as of now the vote will be for him. This becomes more significant because the voter knows that because of his age, this might be the last election for Harish Rawat,” said Joshi.

Image courtesy: Twitter