Congress wanted Bahuguna ji’s defeat in this election at any cost. This was accepted by Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in his interview with senior journalist Ram Bahadur Rai.
The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took command to defeat Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna.
Be it the bye-elections of the state assembly or the Lok Sabha. The results may not affect the health of the government. But the opposition wants to win him to show the mirror to the ruling party, then to give proof of the intact public support of the ruling party. of Uttar Pradesh to be held on 5 December Mainpuri Lok Sabha Seat And Rampur Assembly Seat The by-elections remain a question on the nose of the SP and the ruling BJP.
Meanwhile, let’s remember such a by-election, which created history. In that by-election, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took command to defeat the opposition veteran Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. The Chief Ministers and all the ministers of five Congress-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh camped in the area and threw government resources. Once again, before the counting of votes, the Election Commission canceled the entire election. The dates of this election were changed three times. But even after all the efforts of the ruling party, the opposition Bahuguna ji was overwhelmed.
Resignation from the membership of the Lok Sabha along with the Congress
Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna’s second inning in the Congress was very brief. After the fall of the Janata Party and then the Charan Singh government, Indira Gandhi took the initiative for Bahuguna ji’s return home. He was made the Secretary General of the Congress, but within a few days of Indiraji’s return to power in 1980, Bahugunaji was marginalized. Meanwhile, Bahuguna ji kept on drawing Indira ji’s attention towards various issues through letters.
While in Congress, Indira ji replied to his last letter of May 10, 1980 in six pages on May 19. Bahuguna ji resigned from the membership of Congress and Lok Sabha on the same day. This step of Bahuguna created a stir. Renunciation of the membership of the Lok Sabha made his stature very big.
First election that was canceled before the counting of votes
After leaving the Congress, Bahugunaji decided to contest again from Garhwal. On May 26, 1981, the Chief Election Commissioner issued a notification to fill the vacant seat of Garhwal. Voting was to be held on June 14 and the election results announced on June 18. Five candidates including Chandra Mohan Singh Negi of Congress were in the fray. There was a lot of rigging in the voting. This was the first election in India’s electoral history when, based on the findings of a high-level inquiry before the counting of votes, the Election Commission decided to cancel the election and hold a re-election.
The commission fixed the second date of election as 30 September 1981. On the report of the Congress candidate, the commission changed the date of polling to 22 November. Technical grounds once again became an obstacle in the election. The date of last polling was fixed on May 19, 1982. The counting of votes was fixed on May 22 and the date of declaration of results the next day.
Indira ji linked the by-election to her reputation
The result of this election was not supposed to have any effect on the health of the central government, but how important it was, can be understood from the cancellation of the counting of votes for the first time and then being postponed again and again. The then Prime Minister Indira ji had directly linked this by-election to her prestige. He had held 34 public meetings in the by-elections of this parliamentary constituency. Along with the Chief Ministers of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal etc., 62 ministers had camped there.
On the day of polling, 43 ministers were deployed to look after the polling stations. The party leaders, workers and four wheelers attached to the organization from outside were not counted. In this one area, Congress had provided 11 helicopters to its leaders for campaigning. Interestingly, the commission’s demand for a helicopter from the government to investigate the complaints remained unheeded. The Uttar Pradesh Police was not considered adequate. Apart from the central forces, the police of Haryana and Punjab were deployed. According to government records, 15,675 police personnel were present in the Garhwal parliamentary constituency on the occasion of the first polling on June 14.
Congress wanted Bahuguna’s defeat at any cost.
Congress wanted Bahuguna ji’s defeat in this election at any cost. This was accepted by Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in his interview with senior journalist Ram Bahadur Rai in his book “Manzil Se Zyada Safar”.
According to Singh, “The Congress party had made it a matter of prestige that Bahuguna should not win at any cost. But it was clearly visible that Bahuguna is winning. Elections were held and all the reports were sent to the Election Commission under a plan. Pressure was put on the commission. Then the election was cancelled. As the Chief Minister, I also played an active role in it. It was my responsibility to implement the said decision. ,
Bhajanlal was distributing sticks by making a line
Vishwanath Pratap Singh further said, “Chief Minister of Himachal and Haryana Bhajan Lal was campaigning with us. Bhajanlal had brought a large number of workers with him. At the behest of Bhajanlal, those workers went to the market and started buying sticks and bamboos. Rumors spread in the area that sticks were being bought to intimidate voters and capture booths. When I had reached there, I saw that Bhajanlal was distributing lathis by arranging a line for the workers who had come from Haryana. I understood that the whole matter would get worse. There was a strong reaction among the people there and when they started pelting stones at them from the mountain, these people fled to save their lives.
Every power is dwarf in front of public opinion
If this by-election is remembered for the shameless and shameful use of power, then also for the fact that if the public is aware and together, then every power proves dwarf in front of it. Bahuguna ji won this election by a margin of 29,024 votes even after canceling the election under government pressure before the counting of votes and postponing the polling dates repeatedly. According to Vishwanah Pratap Singh, “He belonged to the same area. Although he had made Allahabad his workplace. But at that time he had become popular as an anti-system leader on the mountain. He also got the benefit of the overwhelming response to the Congress election campaign. The public does not like that outsiders roam around with sticks in their area and capture booths.”
: Language Inputs
