Congress on Wednesday expelled Kishore Upadhyay, the former state unit chief of Uttarakhand, from the party for six years for indulging in “anti-party activities”, reported news agency ANI. He was earlier removed from all posts as a disciplinary action.
In a letter addressed to Upadhyay, Uttarakhand PCC in-charge Devender Yadav said that the dismissal had come after several warnings.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) in a letter on January 26 had written: "Since you had been indulging in anti-party activities despite several warnings, so you are hereby expelled from the primary membership of Congress party for six years with immediate effect."
In a major setback to Congress ahead of February 14 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, former party state chief Kishore Upadhyaya is likely to join BJP today, sources in the BJP told ANI.
Upadhyaya could contest the Assembly polls from the Tehri constituency, sources told ANI.
Earlier, Congress released its third list of candidates for the polls which did not mention the name of Upadhyaya. This further increased the speculation of him joining the BJP.
In a major turn of events in the state weeks ahead of the elections, Congress changed the seat of former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Singh Rawat who will now contest the election from Lalkuwa, instead of Ramnagar.
Interestingly, Congress has given the ticket to the daughter of Harish Rawat, Anupama Rawat from Hardwar Rural constituency defying its own policy of 'one seat, one family'.
Uttarakhand is slated to go to Assembly polls on February 14 and the counting of the votes will take place on March 10.
(With inputs from ANI)
