It will be a battle between a guru and his disciple in the Pauri Garhwal bypolls, to be held on February 24. The Uttarakhand Congress has decided to field Satpal Maharaj, a former Union Minister, from the seat vacated by Chief Minister Major General B C Khanduri (retd) . “We have decided to send the name of Satpal Maharaj to the party high command for a final decision,” said Harak Singh Rawat, Leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state Assembly. In all probability, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will field Lt Gen T P S Rawat (retd) as its candidate for the bypolls. Thus, Rawat will face his political guru and mentor, Satpal Maharaj in the electoral battle. It was Maharaj, a spiritual guru of ‘Manav Dharam’, commanding a large following in India and abroad, who introduced Rawat to politics. Maharaj was instrumental in fielding Rawat in the first Assembly polls in February 2002. Rawat, a former Director General of Assam Rifles, won the Dhumakot Assembly seat and became a minister in the N D Tewari Government. He contested against Khanduri in 2004 Lok Sabha elections and was defeated. Later he won the 2007 Assembly elections from Dhumakot as a Congress candidate, but left the party after he was denied the position of Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). Rawat quit Dhumakot seat for Khanduri, who won it in the bypolls held in August 2007.Though Rawat’s name has not yet been officially announced, Khanduri, who has won over Rawat, has been working overtime to ensure that he defeats his former political mentor Maharaj. Khanduri has defeated Maharaj in the Lok Sabha elections since 1991, except in 1996 polls when Maharaj won and became a Union Minister.
