Congress MLA from Uttarakhand’s Badrinath assembly constituency, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, resigned from the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP in charge Dushyant Gautam, and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni in Delhi on Sunday, a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections.
After joining the BJP, Bhandari said he joined the party as he was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership abilities to take the country forward.
“I have expressed my faith in the efficient leadership of PM Modi. The way he has been taking the country forward….we will follow in his footsteps and get the BJP (Lok Sabha) candidates to win….I have faith in the policies of the BJP,” he said.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “He (Bhandari) has a long political career. He is inspired by various development work under PM Modi in the country and Uttarakhand. He has seen work such as theBadrinath master plan, Char Dham all-weather road, connecting one corner of the state to another, Hemkund Sahib ropeway, etc. in his constituency. He has joined the BJP, inspired by all these work. The atmosphere is already in our favour and we are winning all five seats in the state. His addition to our family will create a positive energy in the (Garhwal Lok Sabha) constituency and the whole state.”
Badrinath seat comes under the Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency.
The BJP has fielded Anil Baluni from Garhwal seat, while former state Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal is the Congress candidate from the seat.
In the 2022 assembly elections, Bhandari, a former minister in the Uttarakhand government, had defeated the BJP’s Mahendra Bhatt, who eventually became the state BJP chief. He had lost to Bhatt in 2017 assembly elections.
Bhandari’s exit from the Congress came a day after two former Congress MLAs, Vijaypal Sajwan (Gangotri) and Mal Chand (Purola), joined the BJP. Senior Congress leader Anukriti Gusain, who is also the daughter-in-law of Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat, also resigned from Congress on Saturday, citing “personal reasons”.
Her resignation from Congress came at a time when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is tightening its noose around Uttarakhand Congress leader and former minister Harak Singh Rawat in a money laundering case linked to an alleged forest scam. Anukriti Gusain had also been served a summons from the agency in the case. She, however, skipped the summons.
Mathura Dutt Joshi, state Congress vice president (organisation), said, “It was unfortunate that leaders and workers were leaving the party in the difficult times.”
The polling on all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will take place on April 19 in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Saturday.
Since 2014, the BJP has held all five seats — Almora (SC reserved), Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal — in the state.
The BJP has already announced its candidates for five Lok Sabha seats in the state. The party fielded sitting MPs Ajay Tamta from Almora, Ajay Bhatt from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah from Tehri Garhwal, Anil Baluni from Garhwal and Trivendra Singh Rawat from Haridwar.
The Congress has declared its candidates for three seats — Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal and Almora. Ganesh Godiyal has been fielded from Garhwal, Jot Singh Gunsola from Tehri Garhwal and Pradeep Tamta from Almora. The party is yet to name its candidates from Haridwar and Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seats.
A senior functionary of the state unit of the Congress, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “We will announce our candidates from both seats soon. We have convinced former chief minister Harish Rawat to contest from Haridwar.”
Five-time parliamentarian and former Union minister, Rawat has been pushing for a ticket to his son Virendra Rawat citing his age.
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