Summary:
Dehradun, Jan 24 (PTI) Hours before Harish Rawat was declared as the Congress candidate from Ramnagar on Monday, his arch rival within the party Ranjit Rawat said people in the constituency in Uttarakhand saw him as a better bet.
Before the the party announced its second list of 11 candidates on Monday evening, an audio clip went viral in which apparently a local Congress leader is heard telling Harish Rawat that Ranjit Rawat is a stronger claimant for the seat than him.
Reacting to the audio clip, Ranjit Rawat, former Congress MLA and now one of the four working presidents of the state party unit, said it shows that party workers in the area are not with Harish Rawat.
He said he has been working in the area for several years, hence is the strongest contender for the party ticket from the seat.
Harish Rawat is purportedly talking to a local party leader in the audio about contesting from the seat and he is told that party workers are fully in support of Ranjit Rawat and to them, Congress means Ranjit Rawat and no one else.
When Harish Rawat asks him to think about the party, the leader says, "For us the party here means Ranjit Rawat.