Nainital. Everyone is deeply saddened by the demise of Leader of Opposition Dr. Indira Hridayesh. It is certain that his political legacy will be handled by his son Sumit Hridayesh. Sumit is active in Congress anyway.
Iron Woman:
There was an Indira Gandhi in the country and there was an Indira Hridayesh in Uttarakhand too. It is a coincidence that both were senior Congress leaders and both got nicknames like ‘Iron Lady’. Indira Hridayesh’s maternal uncle was originally in Daunu-Dasauli village of Pithoragarh district. He was born on 7 April 1941 in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) to freedom fighter father Tika Ram Pathak and Rama Pathak. The long part of his childhood was spent with his father in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
38 Years Principal:
After completing her education, she was first teacher and then principal for 38 years in Lalit Mahila Girls Inter College, Haldwani. During this time, he joined the Congress party in 1962 and made his debut in the politics of United Uttar Pradesh through teacher politics. From 1974 to 1980 and again from 1986 to the formation of Uttarakhand in the year 2000, she was MLC in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council from teacher quota for three consecutive times.
So became the Leader of the Opposition:
During this time she was married to Hridayesh Kumar Sharma, a resident of Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. In the year 2000, when Uttarakhand was formed, Indira and KC Singh Baba were in the capacity of MLAs from Congress. So he was made the Leader of the Opposition. In the year 2002, when the Congress government was formed under the leadership of Pandit Narayan Dutt Tiwari, she remained in the position of ‘shadow chief minister’ in the state.
Goddess of Growth:
Meanwhile, her image as the ‘Goddess of Development’ also remained due to her shining the streets of her assembly Haldwani. Despite being the face of the Chief Minister, in spite of internal politics in the Congress governments between 2012 and 17, his position remained number-2 after the Chief Minister. In the present too, she was continuously active with being the Leader of the Opposition and was also the only party leader of the Congress in Uttarakhand who became MLA continuously and remained active in politics from the year 2000 till the year 2000, except in the middle of 2007 elections.
Look at Sumit:
Now the discussion has also started on how his departure will fill the void in the politics of Uttarakhand and especially the Congress. It is believed that his political legacy will be handled by his son Sumit Hridayesh, who has already made his debut in politics. It is possible that in the remaining 8-9 months of the state assembly, there will be a by-election in Haldwani along with Gangotri.
New Pole:
At the same time, Congress will soon have to choose a new Leader of Opposition in his place. He also used to have a big pole in the Congress, now those lower rank party leaders will have to choose a new pole in his absence. Will it be Harish Rawat, more or less his staunch opponent or someone else it is still in the womb.
A lot will change:
Continuing to challenge Harish Rawat and even a day before, by announcing to contest the elections under ‘collective leadership’ from the central high command, apart from the rut of declaring Harish Rawat, what else will change in the politics of the state after Indira’s departure. All this is still in the womb of the future. It is noteworthy that Rawat has written the most touching and long condolence message on the passing away of Dr. Indira Hridayesh.