Says it was difficult to maintain self respect while remaining in Congress
Sunday, 13 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Former Congress candidate and son of four-time Bageshwar MLA, Ranjit Das joined the Bharatiya Janata Party here on Saturday. The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt said that the Congress which was already lacking issues is now also lacking candidates to field in the Bageshwar Assembly by-election. Das joined the BJP in presence of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Bhatt among others in the CM residence and later addressed the mediat at the party’s State office.
He told the media persons that he had joined the BJP after being impressed by the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. He said, “Self respect is of utmost importance to me and I left the Congress to maintain my self respect. When I saw media reports about the Congress considering inducting a leader who had denigrated the party in the past, I did not wait for the Bageshwar Assembly bypoll candidate’s name to be finalised. No honest party worker will be in a position to seek votes from the public for such a candidate. My father has been a four-time MLA from the area and I too have served the people. I have been in public life for 32 years. The late cabinet minister Chandan Ram Dass was my relative and had also worked with my father. I have not joined the BJP due to greed for any position or anything else. My work will decide my position,” he said.
Das further said that the candidate fielded by AAP in the previous Bageshwar Assembly election had spent a lot of money in the polls but had still not managed to win it. He said that he will work as directed by the party to ensure a record breaking victory of the BJP in the Bageshwar bypoll.
Speaking on the occasion, the BJP State president said that the Congress which was earlier without issues is now without a proper candidate to field in Bageshwar. “The Congress is already trying to break the INDIA alliance by inducting a member of its alliance party to field as its own in the Assembly by-election. Ranjit Das is popular in the public through politics and social work. His entry in the BJP will give more strength to the party in the Bageshwar bypoll. We had secured 94 per cent votes in the Champawat Assembly bypoll and expect to break this record in the Bageshwar bypoll.”
