‘Cong should expel me’, says Harish Rawat on ticket selling allegations

“Holi is a proper celebration of summoning evils, and the 'Harish Rawat evil' should also be burnt by Congress in this Holika,” ex Uttarakhand CM said.

Congress leader and ex Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday said the party should expel him if allegations he had sold tickets ahead of the recently held Assembly election, and offered government posts for money, are proven to be true. Rawat, who led the Congress' campaign during the election - which the party lost badly - also declared that an 'an evil like him' should be 'burned by the Congress on Holi'. Rawat did not, however, name the person who had made the allegations against him.

Congress leader and ex Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat. (PTI)

"The allegation of selling posts and party tickets is very serious. If the allegations are being levelled against a person who has been chief minister, state president of the party, and the general secretary of the party, then the matter becomes more serious," Rawat said in a Twitter post that underlined yet another growing rift within the party.

"I pray to God = the Congress expels me in light of these allegations against me. Holi is a proper celebration of summoning evils, and the 'Harish Rawat evil' should also be burnt by Congress in this Holika (sic),” he added.

The 73-year-old former chief minister claims 'a person in a significant position' has accused him of selling party tickets and offering posts for cash, both of which resulted in the Congress’ defeat in Uttarakhand. "The allegations are being published and disseminated by the person in a very important position and his supporters," he said.

Harish Rawat, who led the Congress campaign in the recently concluded Uttarakhand assembly polls, lost to the BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht from Lalkuwa by 17,527 votes. He has already lost three elections, the 2022 Assembly polls being the fourth defeat.

Rawat, on Sunday, expressed anguish over his failure to guide the party to victory, saying he could not rise to the expectations of the party leadership that had reposed its trust in him.

"How much trust she (Sonia Gandhi) had in me. All the top leaders of Congress had so much trust in me. All of them expected me to bring the Congress back to power. There must have been some shortcoming on my part because of which I could not meet their expectations," he said in a Facebook post.

The Congress was beaten in the Uttarakhand election by the ruling BJP, which won 47 of the Assembly's 70 seats; the majority mark is 36. The Congress won just 19 seats.