He is considered the tallest Dalit leader in the state
Tuesday 12, 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
By managing to rope in a heavyweight like Yaspal Arya and his son Sanjeev Arya the Congress party has dealt a major blow to the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand. Arya is considered to be the tallest Dalit leader in the politics of Uttarakhand and his switching sides ahead of the crucial assembly elections could prove beneficial for the Congress party. Arya was said to be not happy working under new chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and to placate him Dhami recently went to home of Arya in the morning and had held a one to one meeting with him over the breakfast. However his breakfast diplomacy failed to pacify the soft spoken Arya who went back to the party with whom he had an association of more than 40 years.
It is learnt that a disgruntled MLA of BJP from Dehradun region who earlier was in Congress party too was scheduled to join the Congress but he was persuaded by senior leaders of BJP at the last minute.
The homecoming of Arya is also being linked with the recent statement of former chief minister and head of the campaign committee Harish Rawat in which he had said that he wants that someone from Dalit community becomes the CM of the state.
In the Congress party Yashpal Arya had held the positions such as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, speaker of Vidhan Sabha and cabinet minister. Apart from holding sway over the Dalit community which constitutes a major vote bank, Yashpal Arya has an influence in the politics of Kumaon region of the state.
The Vice president of Uttarakhand Congress Surya Kant Dhasmana said that Yashpal Arya’s joining the Congress is a signal of the end of BJP government in Uttarakhand and a good sign for the Congress party. He said that the anti poor and anti dalit face of the BJP has now got exposed.
