A day after the Indian Muslim league candidate from Haridwar parliamentary constituency, Asif Hussain joined the Congress, scores of Bahujan Samaj Party leaders — including Subodh Rakesh, Haridwar district Panchayat member — and the brother of suspended BSP MlA and Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh, along with Aditya Brijwal, the son of suspended BSP MlA Haridass, joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Harish Rawat in Dehradun on Monday. According to sources, two more BSP MlAs are expected join the Congress in the near future.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the Congress will become stronger with the new members. “The way to defeating communal forces will become clearer with this development. Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh and BSP MlA Haridass are working to strengthen the Congress-led State Government enabling the Government to move ahead with its developmental agenda,” said the Chief Minister.
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president and Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya waited for the new entrants to the party but had to leave for a public meet in Tehri. His message was read out by Congress State general secretary Vijay Saraswat in the presence of party State spokesman Surendra Kumar.
According to Kumar, apart from Subodh Rakesh and Aditya Brijwal, those who joined the Congress on Monday included Haridwar district cooperative bank chairman Sushil Chaudhary, Haridwar district cooperatives federation convenor Qurban Ali and various former Panchayat members and position holders from different areas of Haridwar constituency.
It is pertinent to mention here that the CM Harish Rawat is making all out efforts to ensure a victory for his wife and Congress candidate from Haridwar parliamentary constituency, Renuka Rawat. Apart from addressing public meets in the constituency, he has also succeeded in getting the leaders and workers of various parties to join the Congress. The Indian Muslim league candidate from Haridwar has already joined the Congress and promised his support to the Congress candidate. If sources are to be believed, two suspended BSP MlAs- Cabinet Minister Surendra Rakesh and Haridass are also likely to join the Congress in the near future. According to political observers, by bringing leaders and supporters of the BSP and IMl into the Congress, the chief minister is trying to ensure that the votes traditionally cast in favour of these two parties are also cast in favour of the Congress candidate in the Haridwar constituency this time.