As many as eight MLAs were not present when Ayra took charge of CLP leader in Vidhan Sabha on Monday
Tuesday, 19 April | PNS | Dehradun
The dissent in the Uttarakhand Congress party after the crushing defeat it received in the recent assembly elections and the selection of candidates for the positions of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader is continuing to simmer. As many as eight MLAs out of the total strength of 19 in the state assembly were conspicuous by their absence when Yashpal Arya took charge as the leader of CLP in the state assembly on Monday. This discord in the party was also visible on Sunday also when 11 MLAs were missing from the programme organised to welcome the new PCC president Karan Mahara at the state headquarters of the party. The outgoing CLP leader and Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh was conspicuous with his absence when Arya took charge as CLP on Monday. Similarly, Badrinath MLA Rajendra Bhandari, Dwarahat MLA Madan Singh Bisht, Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami and Kiccha MLA Tilak Raj Behed were also absent in the programme. The MLAs who were present included deputy leader of CLP Bhuwan Kapri, Manoj Tiwari, Adesh Chauhan, Furkan Ahmed, Mamta Rakesh, Anupma Rawat, Sumit Hridayesha, Virendra Jati, Ravi Bahadur and Gopal Singh Rana. Former chief minister Harish Rawat was present in the programme but senior leaders Harak Singh Rawat, Ganesh Godiyal and Ranjit Rawat were absent. Interestingly Arya was scheduled to take charge at 11 am but the programme was delayed due to late arrival of some MLAs and state in charge Devendra Yadav. When asked to comment on the absence of some MLAs including Pritam Singh, the CLP leader Arya said that there is no dissent in the party and he is in contanst touch with everyone.
