Former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhaya joins BJP after getting expelled

In a statement, he said that he had joined the BJP 'with a spirit to take Uttarakhand forward'

Former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyaya on Thursday joined the BJP, a day after being expelled for six years from the party’s primary membership for alleged “anti-party activities”.

Upadhyaya, who joined the saffron party in Dehradun praising Prime Minister Modi’s work from Kashi to Kedarnath, was reportedly in touch with BJP leaders for quite some time and had been repeatedly warned by the Congress leadership for his recent critical remarks.

When asked why he quit the Congress, a sulking Upadhyaya, told reporters to “ask the Congress why”.

Earlier, Congress Mahila chief of Uttarakhand Sarita Arya, a Dalit leader, had joined the BJP after the party on Wednesday appointed Jyoti Rautela in her place. The state goes to polls on February 14.

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The back-to-back induction of leaders from Brahmin and Dalit community is a shot in the arm for the saffron party in Uttarkhand, where Brahmins (25 per cent) are the second-most numerically and electorally important community after Thakurs (35 per cent).

Dalits constitute 18 per cent of the population but the BSP, which once used to win a good number of seats in the state, is now a marginalised force.

Mayawati’s party, which had won seven and eight Assembly seats in the state in 2002 and 2007 respectively, managed a mere three in 2012 while it failed to open its account in the 2017 state polls.

Both the national parties are competing for Dalit votes. Home Minister Amit Shah will on Friday address a ‘Anusoochit Jaati’ (Scheduled Caste) Samaj Baithak in the state and hold a door-to-door campaign in Rudraprayag district.

The BJP has fielded former CM Gen (Retd) B C Khanduri’s daughter Ritu Bhushan Khanduri from Kotdwar this time. Khanduri is the second-most prominent Brahmin leader after Narayan Dutt Tiwari in the region.

In the first list of 59 candidates, the BJP has fielded 22 Thakurs and 15 Brahmins.

AICC in-charge of Uttarakhand Devender Yadav, however, took to social media to justify the action against him saying "the esteem and dignity of the party is above all! There never was & there never will be any place for those who do not respect the basic integrity and value system of the majestic institution that is Congress."

In the expulsion letter to "Upadhyaya Ji" that ended with a "Thank You", he had on Wednesday told him "since you had been indulging in anti-party activities despite several warnings, so you are hereby expelled from the primary membership of Congress party for six years with immediate effect."

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