Dehradun: In a significant setback to the Congress party in Uttarakhand, several senior party members, including Laxmi Rana and Meena Sharma, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the latter's state headquarters in Dehradun on Saturday. The defection also included Darshan Lal Arya, who had contested the 2022 assembly election from Ghansali as an independent candidate, along with other Congress workers.
BJP welcomes new members
Welcoming the new inductees, BJP Uttarakhand chief Mahendra Bhatt expressed confidence that the party would emphatically win the 2027 assembly polls. He stated, "The presence of Rana, Arya, and Sharma will further strengthen the party and contribute to our electoral success."
Meena Sharma's political journey
Meena Sharma, who previously served as chairperson of Rudrapur nagar palika, had contested the 2022 assembly election from Rudrapur on a Congress ticket. She secured 40,822 votes, which accounted for 30.8% of the total votes cast, but lost to BJP's Shiv Arora. Interestingly, former BJP MLA Rajkumar Thukral, who held the seat in 2012 and 2017, contested the same election as an independent and finished third with 26,988 votes. Thukral had recently joined Congress and was considered a strong contender for the party ticket from Rudrapur, a factor that prompted Sharma's move to the BJP.
Laxmi Rana and Darshan Lal Arya
Laxmi Rana, a former zila panchayat chairperson of Rudraprayag district, had contested the 2017 assembly election from Rudraprayag, where she received 14,701 votes but was defeated by BJP's Bharat Singh Chaudhary. Darshan Lal Arya, on the other hand, stood fourth in Ghansali as an independent candidate in 2022, securing 4,739 votes.
Congress reacts
Congress state chief spokesperson Garima Dasauni termed the turncoats as "opportunists." She remarked, "Congress had given them tickets to contest assembly elections. If they could not win the constituency, they should not blame others. Rather than strengthening the party that gave them everything, they opted to join the BJP." Meanwhile, Congress has announced that it will soon induct 18 senior politicians into its fold, signaling a continued effort to bolster its ranks in the state.
