Expelled From Party, Former Uttarakhand Congress Chief Kishore Upadhyay Joins BJP

Kishore joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister and the party's election in-charge for Uttarakhand, Pralhad Joshi and other senior leaders.

Dehradun: Ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly polls next month, former state Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay  joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. Kishore joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister and the party’s election in-charge for Uttarakhand, Pralhad Joshi and other senior leaders.

According to media reports, the BJP which has not yet announced its candidate for Tehri may field Upadhyay from there. Upadhyay had won the Tehri seat in 2002 and 2007 polls.

Speaking to news agency ANI before joining the party, he said, “I will do something new now. Time has come to speak up.

Former Congress Chief of Uttarakhand, Kishore Upadhyay joins Bharatiya Janata Party in Dehradun, ahead of #UttarakhandElection2022 pic.twitter.com/4WitzYODXC

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2022

“Addressing the media persons after joining BJP, Upadhyay said, “I think Uttarakhand`s development is only possible under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and I want to work towards making Uttarakhand a better state.”

“I am impressed with the work RSS and BJP have done in Tehri and Uttarkashi. I am grateful to Prahlad Joshi for giving me this opportunity to be a part of the BJP,” he added.

Earlier this week, Congress expelled Kishore Upadhyay for “anti-party activities”. He was removed from the primary membership of the Congress party for six years.

Speaking on the reason behind his expulsion, he said, “A picture of myself with BJP went viral which was represented in a different light.”