Khanduri joins BJP in presence of CM Dhami
PrashantNews
A day after quitting Congress, Manish Khanduri on Saturday joined BJP on expected lines. But Khanduri’s decision to join BJP has raised many eyebrows mainly because of its timing. Khanduri, son of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri has joined the saffron party at a time when he was in a deep dilemma on his future in Congress.
Congress leaders claimed that there could be two main reasons that prompted Khanduri to join BJP – the first was his fear of a possible electoral defeat in the coming Lok Sabha election in case he was chosen as a Congress candidate from Pauri-Garhwal, a seat represented by his father many times. The other could be his one more fear that he may not get Congress ticket which would have meant that he was no more considered as a winnable candidate due to his drubbing in the hands of former Chief Minister Tirarth Singh Rawat, a protégé of senior Khanduri.
Congress sources admitted that after his defeat in 2019 from Pauri, Khanduri was not happy in Congress. Rawat had defeated Khanduri by over 3 lakh votes which upset the Congress calculations that the junior Khanduri would get the sympathy of voters because of him being the son of the BJP’s retired General. Interestingly, senior Khanduri, except once, had remained undefeated in Pauri Lok Sabha seat.
But Khanduri’s decision to Join BJP may not be a political astute move. Already, his elder sister Ritu Khanduri is in BJP holding the top post of Vidhan Sabha Speaker. Secondly, it may not be wise for BJP to ignore the candidatures of its top leaders like Trivendra Singh Rawat and Anil Baluni from Pauri. Then what will he do in BJP? Only time will tell.
Nevertheless, Khanduri may have pinned high hopes about his better future in BJP. But in his social media post on the Facebook on Friday, Khanduri said his decision to resign from Congress was without anticipation or expectation of any personal gain. “I am resigning from primary membership of the Indian National Congress and all associated positions. I have taken this decision without anticipation or expectations of any personal gain,” he said.
After joining the BJP, Khanduri said he has joined the party without expecting anything in return. He also said he belongs to a family where his father was two time Chief Minister and his sister is Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha.
The resignation of Khanduri was severely criticized by a section of Congress leaders. An interesting criticism in form of an advice to Khanduri came from veteran Congress leader Dhirendra Pratap, who said there are party workers like him (Pratap) serving Congress for the past 45 years. Despite not getting any party ticket even at the level of gram pradhan, his loyalty towards Congress has not lessened at any point of time.
Welcoming Khanduri in BJP, State party President Mahendra Bhatt said the ruling party would be benefitted by the experience and caliber of junior Khanduri.