The former Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay has been removed from all party posts on the charge of ‘anti-party activities’, days after he reportedly met senior state BJP leaders. While further action is pending against him, Upadhyay is stated to be unhappy with former Congress CM Harish Rawat who is heading the assembly election campaign.
On January 3, Upadhyay had met some senior Uttarakhand BJP leaders at the residence of BJP organisational general secretary Ajeya Kumar. The BJP election in-charge Pralhad Joshi was also present in the meeting.
Uttarakhand in charge of the Congress, Devendra Yadav in his letter to Upadhyay accused him of continuous anti-party activities and hobnobbing with the BJP and other political parties. Yadav said that despite multiple warnings, Upadhyay was indulged in anti-party activities.
“People of Uttarakhand are yearning for change and are waiting to throw out the corrupt BJP government. There is wide spread anger with the maladministration, misgovernance and all-round corruption aided and abetted by the BJP leadership. It is the solemn duty of each one of us to rise to the challenge and serve the Devbhumi of Uttarakhand as also its people. Sadly, you have been hobnobbing with BJP and other political parties with a view to undermine this fight and weaken the cause of the people,” Yadav alleged in his letter.
One senior Congress leader associated with the Uttarakhand election said that the letter was only a formality since they were aware of Upadhyay going to join the Congress.
Upadhyay has now been withdrawn as chairman of the Uttarakhand Congress Coordination Committee, member of the state Congress Core Committee, and the Uttarakhand Congress Pradesh Election Committee.
In the past, Upadhyay served as president of the state unit from June 2014 till May 2017. He remained state spokesperson as well as the chief whip of the Congress legislative fold from 2008 till 2012. He also served as industry minister in the ND Tiwari-led government.
While his meeting with BJP leaders created a storm in the Congress party as well as in Uttarakhand politics, Upadhyay dismissed his meeting had any political motive. He said that he meets different people related to his forest rights activities. In the past also he had met former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party head, Akhilesh Yadav.
मेरी कोशिश है, आने वाला विधान सभा चुनाव राज्य के सरोकारों व समस्याओं पर केन्द्रित हो।#वनाधिकार_आन्दोलन pic.twitter.com/2aykqhkqBY
— Kishore Upadhyay (@KupadhyayINC) January 5, 2022
It is evident from the past couple of months that Upadhyay has turned critical towards the Congress party. He had alleged that he was neither given due respect nor a right place despite playing a significant role in strengthening the Congress in Uttarakhand.
Upadhyay accused Rawat of backstabbing and said Rawat was active in getting him defeated from the Sahaspur assembly seat during the 2017 assembly election.
