Two MLAs during the last 3 days join BJP, a jolt to Congress. After Pritam, lawmaker, Purola, Rajkumar joins BJP today

As the assembly elections are coming nearer, the central and state leadership of the saffron party is, leaving no stone unturned to grab MLAs from opposition Congress, with Rajya Sabha MP and the national incharge of BJP media, Anil Baluni playing a major role to engineer defections from Congress to BJP.

In just a week’s, time two lawmakers from Dhanaulty and Purola, Uttarkashi, Tehri Garhwal have been taken into party’s fold at the Delhi BJP headquarter with quite a pomp and show.

On Sunday, another MLA from Purola, who was feeling quite uneasy being in Congress was today welcomed in BJP in Delhi in the presence of the union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Uttarakhand, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP’s national media incharge Anil. Baluni and the state party chief Madan Kaushik.

After the current defection from Congress to BJP by Purola, Uttarkashi lawmaker Rajkumar, due to his being annoyed with Harish Rawat’s, style of functioning as per party sources, the Congress party’s strength has been reduced to 9 MLAs.

It may be recalled that just two days ago a former senior leader of UKD, who was minister during the Congress rule from 2014 to 2017 under the then CMs Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat, and three times MLA from Dhanaulty Pritam Singh Panwar had also joined BJP in Delhi in the presence if union minister Smriti Irani, Anil Baluni and Madan Kaushik.

The two MLAs joining the BJP in just a week is indeed an encouraging news for the saffron party which is facing anti incumbency factor negativity after it had changed three CMs in just 4.5 years having failed to deliver adequately with certain scams coming to the fore, the one being related to security guards’ appointments exposed by none other than the prospective CM candidate of Aam Admi Party colonel Ajay Kotiyal.

According to sources to counter the increasing tirade of opposition Congress and AAP against state BJP, bringing MLAs of other parties into its fold is BJPs current strategy to disseminate the information that the opposition lawmakers still have immense confidence in BJP being claimed by Congress n AAP as a gone political force.

The role of BJP media strategist RS MP Anil Baluni is worth mentioning here in engineering these defections as he is allegedly considered to be a master in this art of defections said a Congress leader on the condition of not revealing his name.

Kindly recall that the political background of Raj Kumar MLA from Purola, had been of Congress who has while joining the BJP requested a pre condition of giving him the BJP ticket from a Dehradun constituency fearing defeat from Purola in the ensuing elections.

Never a student or youth leader he completed his graduation from DAV college Dehradun and his father Patidas had contested from Purola in 1985 on Congress ticket but lost.

He joined BJP in 2007 after the state got separate entity in 2000. He contested from Sahaspur seat ( reserve) on BJP ticket in 2007 followed by winning as independent candidate from Purola in 2012.

In 2017, he joined Congress and won from Purola on Congress ticket. He was considered to be close to former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and joined BJP today after feeling uneasy when Rawat took the cudgels of the state Congress in his hands through his protege Ganesh Godiyal, nominating him as Congress chief and himself becoming the chief of the Uttarakhand campaign committee said sources close to MLA Rajkumar.

The political experts say that defection of two MLAs in BJP with both of them having been associated with Congress has brought the opposition party on the back foot for the time being, especially after a news survey of ABP gave the saffron party a winning leverage in the ensuing elections.

featured pic : Zee TV