By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 12 Aug: In a major setback to Uttarakhand Congress, just before the Assembly Byelection on Bageshwar seat, the last time party candidate Ranjeet Das today joined the BJP. Sources in the Congress admit that this is a setback as Das was a probable Congress candidate for the upcoming Byelection from Bageshwar. Congress has now one lesser option to choose from and will have to find a new candidate in the upcoming election.
Ranjeet Das met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today and later joined the party in the presence of BJP State President Mahendra Bhatt. Das had lost to the then BJP candidate Chandan Ramdas by a margin of 12,000 votes. Hence, while Das joining the BJP can’t be considered to be a major electoral gain for the BJP, but it is certainly a major perception loss to the Congress. In fact soon after Das joined the BJP, Congress State Chief Karan Mahara issued a statement claiming that Das had committed a blunder by leaving the Congress and switching over to the BJP. It meant that he did not have the confidence to win, Mahara claimed.
After the death of BJP minister Chandan Ramdas, polling for Bageshwar seat is to be held on 5 September. After the announcement of the schedule of the by-elections, now the Congress will have to play some new faces and bets. Recently, the state in-charge of Congress, Devendra Yadav, had prepared an election strategy against the BJP in a meeting in Dehradun. It may be recalled that Das has been participating in the Congress meetings held under the leadership of Party leader Devendra Yadav and therefore his sudden departure comes as a major blow and shock for the Congress party.
While joining the party at BJP State Headquarters here today, Das claimed that he had joined the BJP after being impressed with the work and performance of the BJP Government led by CM Dhami and to protect his self respect. Reminding that his father had also served the Bageshwar constituency as an MLA, he asserted that his family had been loyal to Congress for past several generations. However, the Congress chose to hurt his self respect and it is to protect his self respect that he has decided to join the BJP. In addition, he had been long impressed with the Modi Government at the Centre who has changed the country for better and with the performance of the BJP Govenremnt in the state too. On the other hand, Bhatt claimed that Congress was a disheartened party and now with the entry of Das in BJP, the BJP will win the byelection with even greater margin than before. BJP MLA Khajan Das, party leaders Shakti Shah, Aditya Kothari and Manveer Chauhan were among those present on the occasion.
Dehradun, 12 Aug: In a major setback to Uttarakhand Congress, just before the Assembly Byelection on Bageshwar seat, the last time party candidate Ranjeet Das today joined the BJP. Sources in the Congress admit that this is a setback as Das was a probable Congress candidate for the upcoming Byelection from Bageshwar. Congress has now one lesser option to choose from and will have to find a new candidate in the upcoming election.
Ranjeet Das met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today and later joined the party in the presence of BJP State President Mahendra Bhatt. Das had lost to the then BJP candidate Chandan Ramdas by a margin of 12,000 votes. Hence, while Das joining the BJP can’t be considered to be a major electoral gain for the BJP, but it is certainly a major perception loss to the Congress. In fact soon after Das joined the BJP, Congress State Chief Karan Mahara issued a statement claiming that Das had committed a blunder by leaving the Congress and switching over to the BJP. It meant that he did not have the confidence to win, Mahara claimed.
After the death of BJP minister Chandan Ramdas, polling for Bageshwar seat is to be held on 5 September. After the announcement of the schedule of the by-elections, now the Congress will have to play some new faces and bets. Recently, the state in-charge of Congress, Devendra Yadav, had prepared an election strategy against the BJP in a meeting in Dehradun. It may be recalled that Das has been participating in the Congress meetings held under the leadership of Party leader Devendra Yadav and therefore his sudden departure comes as a major blow and shock for the Congress party.
While joining the party at BJP State Headquarters here today, Das claimed that he had joined the BJP after being impressed with the work and performance of the BJP Government led by CM Dhami and to protect his self respect. Reminding that his father had also served the Bageshwar constituency as an MLA, he asserted that his family had been loyal to Congress for past several generations. However, the Congress chose to hurt his self respect and it is to protect his self respect that he has decided to join the BJP. In addition, he had been long impressed with the Modi Government at the Centre who has changed the country for better and with the performance of the BJP Govenremnt in the state too. On the other hand, Bhatt claimed that Congress was a disheartened party and now with the entry of Das in BJP, the BJP will win the byelection with even greater margin than before. BJP MLA Khajan Das, party leaders Shakti Shah, Aditya Kothari and Manveer Chauhan were among those present on the occasion.
