Sunday, 17 March 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The trend of leaders from the Congress and other parties joining the Bharatiya Janata Party continued on Saturday with two of its former MLAs from Uttarkashi district joining the BJP. A day after resigning from the Congress, its former MLAs Vijaypal Sajwan from Gangotri and Malchand from Purola joined the BJP in the presence of the party’s State president Mahendra Bhatt and cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal, among other party leaders. The two joined the party along with their supporters. Sajwan and Malchand joining the BJP is expected to boost the party’s chances of victory in the Tehri Lok Sabha constituency.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhatt said that considering the big target set by the BJP, every party worker will have to strive to achieve it. He said that people will continue to join the BJP till the day of voting because all are experiencing the public welfare schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said that after the leaders joined the BJP on Saturday, most public representatives in Uttarkashi district, especially from the Congress are now in the BJP with Uttarkashi becoming a Congress-free district. He said that the BJP has to replicate this in the whole State and achieve a victory on all five Lok Sabha seats with a margin of more than five lakh votes.
Speaking at the chief minister’s representative, cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal said that both the former MLAs are connected to the ground and their popularity will make it easier for the BJP to achieve its target. After these two former MLAs, a large number of their supporters and office bearers left the Congress and joined the BJP, the opposition candidates are bound to lose even their deposit in the election. He said that the Congress is a sinking ship which nobody would like to travel aboard.
Malchand, who had earlier left the BJP and contested as the Congress candidate from Purola Assembly constituency in the 2022 Assembly elections, apologised to the party leaders and workers for having left the BJP earlier. He said that the nation building policies of PM Modi gave him courage to return to the BJP. Former Gangotri MLA Sajwan said that he had decided to join the BJP along with his supporters to contribute to the development works being facilitated by the government under PM Modi and chief minister Dhami. A number of former office bearers and public representatives of the Congress and other parties from Gangotri, Purola and Rishikesh areas joined the BJP on the occasion.
