BJP giving open offer to Congress state lawmakers to join it and speculations rife about a former Tehri MLA joining it
SUNIL NEGI
There are speculations that by 10 March the election commission will announce the date of the general elections. However, in Uttarakhand a state with merely five Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha lawmakers the two national parties are busy shortlisting their candidates. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wants to repeat its all the Lok Sabha seats by hook or by crook and there are also reports that some of the sitting MPs may be changed as the saffron party have been experimenting on this stance in several states and had find it game changing. The results of three states viz Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh few months ago have been phenomenal with Congress losing in all states at the hands of BJP. The ruling party which is also apprehensive of anti incumbency factor going against it in Lok Sabha against its sitting MPs has now started to play a different tactics of inviting / manipulating defection of Congress lawmakers, former lawmakers of the state to the saffron party assuring them of giving party tickets in the assembly elections and ensuring their victory.
The BJP’s state chief and newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt, who had himself lost from the Badrinath Kedarnath assembly seat in 2023, has while speaking to media the other day at Dehradun given an open call to Congress legislators to join BJP as he is awaiting them open heartedly.
Bhatt said those in Congress believing in the policies, programmes and developed India mission of prime minister Narendra Modi are wholeheartedly welcome with open arms in BJP also assuring that the MLAs coming would be given party tickets and their victory would be ensured.
On the question of existing factionalism in state Congress, Rajya Sabha MP and party chief Mahendra Bhatt said that the leaders and workers of ideologically vaccum, directionless and visionless party, Congress has no confidence to face the people of the state.
Congress has been a ruling party for several decades , hence it always want to be in power having no moral n courage to struggle for people’s grievances and problems.
On the other hand the BJP has been seamlessly winning the Parliament, Assembly, and all the elections at the decentralised levels said Mahendra Bhatt.
Meanwhile, according to the latest news, a former strong lawmaker of Tehri Garhwal is likely to join Bhartiya Janata Party and several others may take the cue. There are reports about some disgruntled Congress MLAs having deliberating with BJP , however this is just a speculation.
But keeping in view the increasing factionalism in Congress party with leaders not coming to terms with each other despite warning by the central high command, the situation seems to be awry , especially when elections are round the corner.
The BJP on the other hand is fully equipped with Ram Temple issue on its side to polarise the majority community votes, enough funds and government machinery at the centre and the state. Above this – the PM has recently given a financial support of more than 350 crores to Uttarakhand apart from various ongoing projects near completion. According to another reliable sources, a prominent Congress leader from Dehradun district is also angry with the party. The leader who was a minister in the Congress government now also feels like leaving the party. The former opposition leader and eight term lawmaker from Chakra Pritam Singh is trying his best to convince him not to join the saffron party.
