Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 7 : Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday took a sly dig at independent MLA Umesh Kumar and said that the person who was responsible for Congress’ 10-year political exile from state is now being treated as a “hero”.
In a post on X, without directly naming Umesh Kumar who is an independent MLA representing Khanpur constituency of Haridwar in Assembly, Rawat in Hindi wrote, "The person who became an instrument in toppling the Congress government in 2016 is now being glorified by naye brand ke Haridwar and its surrounding hoodlum Congressis. First, their effort was during the Lok Sabha election time, and now the effort has deepened even further." 
"The one who became the medium/instrument to topple the government now appears venerable, because there is immense wealth, and a large portion of that wealth was acquired after toppling our government in 2016. The person who staked his life to save the government, who struggled, is today a villain in their eyes, and the person because of whom Congress bid farewell to Uttarakhand for 10 years is a hero for them today.
The controversy within the party is believed to have intensified following Rawat’s ‘Dhanyawad Evam Jansamvad Yatra’. 
Amid the ongoing political turmoil in the Uttarakhand Congress and objections raised by the state in-charge, all eyes are now on former Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s next political move. On Tuesday, Rawat reached Kichha in Udham Singh Nagar district, where he held a meeting with party workers and discussed the future strategy.
As per his earlier schedule, Rawat was supposed to travel from Kichha to Dehradun on Tuesday. However, amid the political developments, his schedule has been changed. He will now travel from Kichha to Delhi on Wednesday, where he is expected to put forward his side before the Congress high command. He is scheduled to meet Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal and Uttarakhand in-charge Kumari Selja. 
Expressing his anguish, Rawat said that the person who had fought and made every effort to save the government is now being viewed as the “villain”, while the person responsible for Congress’s 10-year political exile from Uttarakhand is being treated as a “hero”.
The dispute between Rawat and Umesh Kumar dates back to the controversial 2016 sting operation. At the time, Kumar was a journalist, while he is now an independent MLA from the Khanpur Assembly constituency. Rawat has also expressed his desire to contest the upcoming election from Khanpur this time.