Lok Sabha Elections: Leaders Making a Beeline for BJP, Congress Struggles to Control Uttarakhand Exodus

The Uttarakhand unit of the Congress seems to be heading into turbulence ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with leaders reportedly lining up to join the ruling BJP.

The latest to switch sides is Rajendra Singh Bhandari, a three-term Congress legislator who was also a minister in the state in the past. Bhandari joined the BJP on Sunday in the presence of senior leaders, including Union Minister Piyush Goyal and the party’s national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam.

The news came out of the blue for the Congress as barely 12 hours before jumping ship, Bhandari was actively campaigning for the grand old party’s candidate Ganesh Godiyal in the Pauri Garhwal constituency where the BJP has fielded its national media incharge Anil Baluni.

“As long as I am in politics, I will remain with the Congress,” Bhandari had told a public gathering as recent as Saturday.

BJP leaders believe Bhandari’s entry in the party is a shot in the arm as he is considered to be a prominent Thakur leader in Garhwal. “It’s a special (occasion) for me as senior leader Rajendra Bhandari is from Pauri constituency from where I have been fielded,” Baluni said on Bhandari’s entry into the BJP.

Besides Bhandari, two former Congress legislators also joined the BJP and another former legislator resigned from the party membership on Sunday. Senior leader Harak Singh Rawat’s daughter-in-law Anukriti Gusain and Rawat’s confidant Lakshmi Rana have also quit the Congress.

According to BJP sources, Harak Singh, who has a sizeable following in the Pauri Garhwal belt, is in touch with the party.

“Those who are switching sides are self-centric, they are exposed,” said Congress president Karan Mahara who is facing tremendous pressure from within the party for “failing to manage the ongoing crisis”.

Even as the Congress struggles to keep its flock together, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt has hinted at “a few more surprises” in the coming days.

The queue for exit from Congress had started with spiritual leader-turned-politician Satpal Maharaj quitting to join the BJP soon after Harish Rawat was appointed Chief Minister. Another blow to the Congress came in 2016, when nine party legislators from Garhwal revolted against Harish Rawat.