All is not well with Uttarakhand BJP as 3 MLAs allege betrayal by leaders - Hindustan Times
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All is not well with Uttarakhand BJP as 3 MLAs allege betrayal by leaders

ByNeeraj Santoshi and Sandeep Rawat
Feb 16, 2022 09:55 PM IST

The Uttarakhand BJP is now in damage control mode and has started taking action against some leaders. Meanwhile, the Congress has termed these developments as an indirect admission by the BJP candidates that they have lost the elections.

DEHRADUN/HARIDWAR: All is not well within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp in Uttarakhand after voting, with three of its MLAs coming out in the open makin allegations against the party state president and local leaders for conspiring for their defeat in the elections.

BJP MLA Sanjay Gupta, who opened a front against the party state president Madan Kaushik a day after polling, again trained his guns on Kaushik on Wednesday demanding a probe into his property and income. (File Photo)
BJP MLA Sanjay Gupta, who opened a front against the party state president Madan Kaushik a day after polling, again trained his guns on Kaushik on Wednesday demanding a probe into his property and income. (File Photo)

The party’s state unit is now in damage control mode and has started taking action against some leaders. Meanwhile, the Congress has termed these developments as an indirect admission by the BJP candidates that they have lost the elections.

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A day after voting, BJP MLA from Laksar, Sanjay Gupta opened a front against the party state president Madan Kaushik on Tuesday, alleging that he conspired to ensure his defeat in the elections. MLAs Harbhajan Singh Cheema from Kashipur and Kailash Gahtori from Champawat also accused local BJP leaders for betraying them in the elections.

BJP state general secretary Kuldeep Kumar said the party has taken the matter seriously. “We are looking into the media statements made by 3 MLAs after which we will talk to them. We have a system in the party. If any leader has to make a complaint regarding state president, he or she can raise the issue before party state-in-charge or national leadership. And they have to raise the issue in the party forum and not in the media,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Gupta again trained his guns on Madan Kaushik on Wednesday demanding a probe into his property and income.

“How come a party worker who was working as a dairy small-scale trader now has property worth crores in just twenty years since he first became a legislator in 2002... Financial probe as well as internal party probe regarding allegations against Kaushik for having nexus with rival political candidates affecting the party’s election scenario should also be done,” said Gupta.

Responding to this, BJP district general secretary Vikas Tiwari refuted the allegations being levelled by Sanjay Gupta against Madan Kaushik. He said such baseless allegations without any evidence won’t do any good but only hurt the image of the party leaders.

BJP vice president Devendra Bhasin said that the party has taken these allegations seriously and it is talking to them.

Meanwhile, following the allegations by Sanjay Gupta of certain leaders indulging in anti-party activities during the recent election, the BJP has expelled four party leaders from primary membership for six years.

Among the expelled leaders are a nominated ward councillor from Laksar municipal committee and the husband of another ward councillor.

According to district BJP president Jaypal Singh Chauhan, taking cognizance of the complaint made by party Laksar candidate Sanjay Gupta, four party members have been expelled for six years for prima facie working against party official candidate during the election campaign.

“Former district media in-charge Rajendra Nath, nominated ward councillor Bhupendra Nigam, Kuldeep Singh, husband of ward councillor Neetu Devi, and former Laksar division president Rahul Aggarwal have been expelled for six years from party primary membership with immediate effect,” said Chauhan.

Despite repeated attempts, BJP state president Madan Kaushik couldn’t be contacted for his take on the developments.

State Congress general secretary Mathura Dutt Joshi said the 3 BJP MLAs’ statements are an indication that the BJP candidates have realised that they are losing the elections.

“We have been saying it for the last six months that the BJP leadership is in disarray in the state. They had to change three CMs due to this and now their own leaders are levelling serious allegations against the party leaders. We have no doubt now that the Congress is coming to power and the same is getting confirmed by these developments within the BJP”, he said.

State Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni said there are a dozen candidates in the BJP who are enraged on how the party leaders behaved with them during the elections. “Many of them were left on their own and now they are angry. Some have come out and more will come out in the coming days,” she said.

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