Monday, 18 March 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Congress suffered yet another setback on Sunday when its MLA from Badrinath and former cabinet minister, Rajendra Bhandari resigned from the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Bhandari joined the BJP in Delhi in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other senior party leaders. Bhandari joined the BJP a day after two former MLAs of the Congress- Vijaypal Sajwan and Malchand joined the BJP.
After joining the BJP on Sunday, Bhandari said that he was impressed by the development works done under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uttarakhand and across the nation. He said that he will work to ensure the victory of the BJP candidates in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Dhami said that Bhandari had witnessed various developmental works like the Char Dham Yatra all-weather road project, Badrinath masterplan and other infrastructural works in the State, which had motivated him to join the BJP.
Expressing happiness at Bhandari joining the BJP, the party’s State president Mahendra Bhatt exhorted the remaining leaders in other parties to become part of the “Modi family” to take the Viskit Bharat mission forward. He said that leaders of the Congress and other parties joining the BJP is a guarantee of Modi becoming the PM for the third consecutive time. The BJP State president said that the party will benefit in the elections from the long political and social experience of Bhandari. He claimed that more than 12,000 people had joined the BJP. He said, “Compared to the past two Lok Sabha elections, we have to win this election by a margin of five lakh more votes. Our aim is not simply to achieve an electoral victory but also to strengthen the hands of PM Modi who has brought glory to the nation. I appeal to the leaders and workers in the Congress and other parties to rise above partisan lines and to join us in the mission to build a developed and empowered India.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Bhandari’s entry into the BJP is expected to provide a further boost to the party especially in the Garhwal parliamentary constituency where it has fielded Anil Baluni while the Congress has fielded former Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal. Bhandari had defeated Mahendra Bhatt in the 2022 Assembly elections. Earlier, the former Garhwal candidate of the Congress and son of ex-CM Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, Manish Khanduri also left the Congress and joined the BJP. Anukriti Gusain, a former Congress candidate from the Lansdowne Assembly constituency and daughter in-law of former cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat too resigned from the Congress on Friday.
