New Delhi: Uttarakhand Congress seems to be in a state of turmoil as the state unit has been struggling to put up a united front ahead of impending Assembly elections. The hilly state will have single-phase voting for all 70 seats on February 14.
In a crucial development, the Congress PCC unit on Wednesday stripped former Congress President Kishore Upadhyay of all party positions because of alleged anti-party activities. The party has taken strong exception to ex-PCC chief’s growing closeness with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It also said that Mr Upadhaya was warned personally & verbally too but he didn’t mend his ways and hence he is being removed for hurting party’s interests.
The party also accused its former chief of hobnobbing with the incumbent BJP government and weakening its fight for the people.
उत्तराखंड कांग्रेस में उथल-पुथल, पार्टी ने पूर्व PCC president किशोर उपाध्याय को सभी पदों से हटाया pic.twitter.com/52903iT0r4
— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) January 12, 2022
Further lashing out at the Pushkar Dhami government, Congress said, “People of Uttarakhand are yearning for change & are waiting to throw out corrupt BJP govt. There is widespread anger with mal-governance & all round corruption, aided & abetted by the BJP leadership.”
Kishore Upadhyay met top BJP leaders of the state last week, fuelling speculations of his switching over to the saffron party. Today, his removal brings the spotlight back on Uttarakhand Congress beset with factional fights for sometime.
Recently, senior leader Harish Rawat’s open revolt against the party high command pushed the party on the backfoot and the Gandhis were ‘forced’ to get into damage control mode ahead of mega poll battle.
It is believed that Kishore Upadhyay was upset with Rawat’s ‘autocratic control’ of the party despite his dwindling popularity among the masses.
