Congress high command asks Rita Bahuguna to dissuade rebel brother

Dehradun, March 19: With the party's government struggling for survival in Uttarkhand, the Congress high command on Saturday, March 19 asked AICC spokesperson Rita Bahuguna Joshi to persuade her elder brother Vijay Bahuguna not to align with the opposition BJP and return home with dignity.

Joshi, former Uttar Pradesh Congress president, younger sister of Bahuguna, former Uttarakhand chief minister, has been assigned the task by the high command as she is expected to succeed in dissuading her brother from taking a confrontationist course with his own government, a senior party leader said on condition of anoymity.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Harish Rawat had taken strong exception to Bahuguna's conduct in the Assembly, saying it was not expected of him considering his lineage.

"Coming as it did from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna's son who always stood against communal forces, it was nothing less than shocking. It was not in sync with the great traditions his family represents. "Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna's son shouting slogans in a chorus with BJP and RSS.

His father's soul must be turning in its grave," Rawat said when asked by reporters whether he was hurt by what rebel Congress MLAs did with him.

PTI