Even as the political fluctuations and uncertainty continued in Uttarakhand on Friday, Congress State in-charge Ambika Soni and other senior party workers held meetings and discussions with members of the Progressive Democratic Front, among others. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee President Kishore Upadhyay alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders had made attempts to lure seven Congress MlAs away from the party but could not succeed.
Arriving in the State capital on Friday, Soni held meetings with former chief minister Harish Rawat, PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay and MlAs of the Congress and its alliance partner Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) discussing issues like continuation of the alliance among others. The senior party leaders also conversed with the MlAs over lunch at a hotel on Rajpur Road. The party state in charge said that she had also arrived in Uttarakhand to convey the Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s appreciation for the party’s
MlAs who remained ‘loyal’ to the party in testing times. later while interacting with the media persons at the Congress Bhawan, the PCC president Kishore Upadhyay alleged that the BJP leaders had made attempts to poach seven MlAs of the Congress on the sly but could not succeed as these MlAs rejected the ‘inducements’ and remained loyal to the Congress party.
He said that the BJP leadership had started preparing to present its claim to forming the State Government in Uttarakhand. “The BJP leaders along with the turncoat MlAs had attempted to break away seven MlAs away from the Congress but our legislators remained loyal to the party. The Congress will felicitate its MlAs for their loyalty,” he said.
The PCC chief further averred that apart from tainting the image of Uttarakhand, the political instability orchestrated in the state by the BJP is causing much loss to the State especially in the Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage.