Saturday, 19 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Reacting sharply to the statements of the Bharatiya Janata Party State president Mahendra Bhatt that the Congress party has ignored its leaders and has brought its candidate from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Bageshwar Assembly by-election, the State Congress has said that Bhatt should not forget that half a dozen ministers in the Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet had defected from the Congress to the BJP.
The State chief spokesperson of Congress Garima Dasauni listed ministers Satpal Maharaj, Rekha Arya, Subodh Uniyal and Saurabh Bahuguna who were earlier in the Congress party. She added that more than 15 out of 47 MLAs of BJP have a Congress background. “Bhatt should know that the late Chandan Ram Dass who was the cabinet minister and whose death necessitated a by-election in Bageshwar was also brought by the BJP from the Congress,’’ she said.
The State spokesman of Congress, Sheeshpal Singh Bisht said that Mahendra Bhatt should tell as to why the BJP has given tickets to the family members of deceased MLAs in all the by-elections held in the last six years. Accusing the BJP of engaging in dynastical politics, Bisht said that the party which always boasts of its works and policies has always given tickets to family members of deceased leaders. He said that BJP gave ticket to Muni Devi Shah, wife of late Magan Lal Shah in Tharali by-election, to wife of late Prakash Pant, Chandra Pant in the Pithoragarh by -election and to Mahesh Jeena, the brother of late Surendra Singh Jeena in Salt by- election. Similarly BJP fielded Savita Kapur, wife of late Harbans Kapur in Dehradun Cantt and has now made the widow of late Chandan Ram Dass its candidate in the Bageshwar by-election. The Congress leader said that on the one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about hitting dynastic politics from the ramparts of Red Fort, on the other hand the BJP in Uttarakhand pays no heed to him.
