Uttarakhand Transport Minister Yashpal Arya, son Sanjeev join Congress

Rahul Gandhi told them their entry into the Congress will definitely strengthen the Congress

BJP on Monday suffered a jolt in poll-bound Uttarakhand as its state Health Minister Yashpal Arya and his MLA son Sanjeev quit the saffron party and joined Congress.

This is a homecoming for Arya as he was president of Uttarakhand Congress for seven years between 2007 and 2014. Arya had quit Congress in 2017 ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections.

Arya's entry along with his son came after a meeting he had with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his residence. Arya's joining, the Congress believes, will help the party in attracting Dalit votes.

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Arya and his son joined the Congress in the presence of Congress General Secretaries Harish Rawat, KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala at the party headquarters in the national capital.

"It is an important day for me as I have returned to my family. It is my 'ghar wapsi'. There can't be a happier day for me. I feel relieved after my return...If the Congress emerges stronger, then democracy will be strengthened further," Arya told reporters.

Arya, who earlier won from Mukteshwar and was Speaker and a Minister in the previous Harish Rawat Ministry, represents the Bajpur (SC) assembly constituency.

A six-time MLA with over 40 years of political experience, he has been Youth Congress president, twice Uttarakhand Congress president and Speaker of the first Uttarakhand Assembly. Two of the six terms of MLAs were in Uttar Pradesh when Uttarakhand was part of it.

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Sanjeev Arya, who is involved in the cooperatives sector in the state, represents the Nainital Assembly constituency.

Another BJP leader Harinder Singh Laddi, who had earlier been the vice chief of Uttarakhand's Irrigation Advisory Committee, also joined the Congress.

Rawat said that Arya is joining back at a time when the party is fighting several challenges and that he had felt pain when Arya had to leave the Congress for some reason.

"This is one of the happiest moments for the Congress party as Yashpal Arya and Sanjeev Arya have decided to join the Congress, giving a clear-cut indication of coming elections in Uttarakhand...The wind is in favour of the Congress in Uttarakhand," Venugopal said.

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