DEHRADUN: In a major setback to the opposition Congress in Uttarakhand, a sitting MLA from Badrinath constituency resigned from the party and joined the BJP in the presence of senior leaders in Delhi. With just a month left for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections to be conducted in five seats, the BJP's strategic infiltration into Congress-dominated areas in Uttarakhand is underway.
On Sunday, the BJP achieved another major success due to this election strategy as Congress MLA from Badrinath, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, left the Congress party and joined the BJP.
Bhandari, a three-term Congress legislator who was also a minister in the state in the past, joined the BJP in the presence of its senior leaders, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal and the party's national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
In the past month, around a dozen senior Congress leaders in the state, including former MLAs, have parted ways with the grand old party.
Among them are notable figures such as Naval Kishore, the former chief of Vikas Block Kot, and a former state executive member of Congress.
Additionally, Deepak Kuksal, who served as the Pauri block chief, has also decided to depart from the Congress.
Reacting to this exodus, state Congress spokesperson Mohan Kala told this newspaper, "Congress is a vast ocean. We are not at all disturbed by the departure of those opportunistic leaders who enjoyed power when it was time and today left the party in a period of struggle. The public and aware voters will definitely expose such turncoats".
On Friday, former Gangotri MLA Vijay Pal Sajwan and former Purola MLA Malchand resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.
Anukriti Gusain, daughter-in-law of Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, who is considered to be the popular face of the party, resigned on Saturday.
Former district panchayat president of Congress from Pauri, Kesar Singh Negi, too recently resigned from the party.