Eye on Uttarakhand polls, late CDS Gen Bipin Rawat's brother Vijay Rawat joins BJP

Colonel (retd) Vijay Rawat, brother of India's late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi in the presence of Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other senior party functionaries.

The development comes hours after the retired colonel met the Uttarakhand chief minister in Delhi, and triggered a buzz over him joining the saffron camp ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in the hill state.

“In case they ask me, I will serve the people of Uttarakhand,” colonel (retd) Rawat had said when asked about his joining the BJP.

After formally being inducted into the party, Rawat said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “vision and far-reaching thought process” inspired him and others into working hard for the nation.

“I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to join the BJP,” said the retired colonel, addressing a press conference. “My father was with the BJP after retiring and now I have received a chance to do the same.”

He had also said Dhami's vision for the state “matches with what my brother (the late CDS) had in his mind”.

CDS Rawat, who hailed from Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand, died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8 along with 13 others, including his wife Madhulika.

Election to the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly is scheduled to be held on February 14. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.