High political drama is brewing in Uttarakhand over the speculation of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Major General (Retd) BC Khanduri’s son Manish joining Congress this week. However, there is no reaction yet from Khanduri in this regard.
The political circle is abuzz with reports that this might be a tactical move by the former CM to pressurize BJP to give a Lok Sabha ticket to Manish from the Pauri seat. Interestingly, amidst all these conjectures, Ritu Khanduri, daughter of the former CM and sitting Yamkeshwar legislator, skipped the MLA meeting of BJP in Dehradun on Thursday. The meeting was arranged in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The absence of Ritu from the BJP meeting provided a new twist to the tale. When quizzed by media, Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt said, “Even if it happens, it will have little impact on BJP.”
Manish Khanduri is the Head of News Partnerships (India) at Facebook. He used to become active in Uttarakhand every time during elections in which senior Khanduri used to contest. BC Khanduri is not keen on contesting election this time due to health reasons. But, the speculation has surprised all as BC is the sitting Member of Parliament from Pauri and his daughter Ritu is a current BJP legislator from Yamkeshwar.
All eyes are now on the Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s 16 March political rally in Dehradun. The rally might clear all the confusion.