Kishore Upadhyaya formally assumed the charge as the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president at a function held in the party State head office in Dehradun on Sunday. The previous PCC chief and Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya handed over the responsibility to Upadhyaya in the presence of various party leaders and cabinet ministers though not all the party MlAs were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Upadhyaya said that he would follow in the footsteps of senior party leaders and work to unite party workers in Uttarakhand so that the Congress could regain the strong position it had achieved in 2002 and 2009. Rejecting talk of factionalism in the party, the new Uttarakhand PCC chief said that the Congress would work at the ground level to regain the trust of the people in Uttarakhand so that the party could be elected to power in the next Assembly polls. He expressed confidence about the chances of the Congress winning in the coming Assembly bypolls. The previous Uttarakhand PCC chief and Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya acknowledged that the party was facing various challenges including the panchayat polls and Assembly bypolls. However, he expressed confidence stating that under the leadership of Upadhyaya, the Congress would become stronger and win the polls.
The Congress party State co-in charge Sanjay Kapoor also expressed confidence in the new Uttarakhand PCC president and averred that the party would achieve victory in the panchayat elections and Assembly bypolls. Cabinet ministers Pritam Singh and Dinesh Agarwal along with some party MlAs were also present on the occasion though the cabinet ministers and MlAs from the faction loyal to former CM Vijay Bahuguna kept away from the function. Upadhyaya had recently met Bahuguna loyalist MlA and contender for the post of Uttarakhand PCC chief Subodh Uniyal and reportedly placated him. However, factionalism remains one of the challenges faced by the PCC chief who along with Chief Minister Harish Rawat is credited for having played an instrumental role in reviving the position of the Congress in Uttarakhand in 2002 when the party was elected to form Government in the State.