By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 24 May: Aam Aadmi Party’s CM face in the recent Uttarakhand assembly elections, Col Ajay Kothiyal (Retd) today joined the BJP in the presence of BJP State President Madan Kaushik, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and former MLA Rajesh Shukla, who played a key role in persuading Kothiyal to join the BJP. It may be recalled that Kothiyal had on 18 May quit AAP. Along with Kothiyal, former Executive State President of AAP Bhupesh Upadhyaya and a large number of AAP workers too joined the BJP.
Speaking on the occasion, Dhami praised Kothiyal for his decision to join the BJP. Kothiyal, on the other hand, praised the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and observed that rapid development of Uttarakhand was possible only through the proactive vision of Modi. The function was held at BJP State Headquarters here this evening.
According to sources, BJP leader and former MLA Rajesh Shukla had been in touch with Kothiyal over the past one month and finally managed to persuade him to join the BJP. Others present at the time of joining included BJP General Secretaries Ajaey Kumar, Kuldeep Kumar, MLA Khajan Das, BJP Spokesman Shadab Shams etc.