Ahead of Uttarakhand bypoll, blow to Cong, loses its 2022 candidate from the seat to BJP

Ranjit Das, belonging to an old Cong family, crosses side; the death of the BJP candidate, who last time won by a big margin against Das, has necessitated the bypoll

Ranjit Das (2nd from left) was welcomed into the party by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and state president Mahendra Bhatt (extreme left). (Twitter/@pushkardhami)

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In a blow to the Congress in Uttarakhand, its candidate in the 2022 Assembly elections from Bageshwar, Ranjit Das, joined the BJP on Saturday, less than a month before the bypoll to the seat is to be held.

The Congress admitted that Das, who belongs to a family of Congress loyalists, was in its list of three-four probable candidates for the seat, for which bypoll is to be held on September 5.

The BJP said Das was welcomed into the party by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and state president Mahendra Bhatt, and that the Congress leader crossed over impressed by the party’s customs, policies and development-oriented thinking.

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Bageshwar is one of the seven Assembly seats which will see by-elections on September 5, spread across five states. The counting of votes will be held on September 8.

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP’s Chandan Ram Dass had won from Bageshwar by a huge margin, getting 43.14% of the votes, compared to Ranjit Das, fielded by the Congress, who got 26.88% votes.

Dass was a four-time MLA from Bageshwar, but it was the first time he had been made a minister, and held the portfolios of Social Welfare, Minority Welfare, Road Transport, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises before his sudden demise. His death necessitated the bypoll.

Talking to the media after joining the BJP, Ranjit Das said that while many generations in his family had been associated with the party, it had “hurt my self-esteem”. “I also got the opportunity to serve the people of Bageshwar when my father was an MLA and minister. But today, to save my self-respect, I am leaving the Congress and joining the BJP,” he said.

“For me, the biggest thing is my self-respect. Jo vyakti kal tak Congress ki ticket ko apne pairo pe rakhne ki baat kahta ho… ek sachha karyakarta kabhi uske paksha mein khadan nahi hoga… Uss vyakti ke liye hum kaise vote maang sakte hain (The person who used to say a Congress ticket was worth his footwear… no true party can speak in such a person’s favour… How can I ask people to vote for such a person)?” Das, 52, said, without clarifying who he was talking about.

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He said he had been impressed with the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dhami for a long time. “I will try my best to ensure the BJP wins Bageshwar by a record number of votes,” he said.

BJP state president Bhatt said the Congress has become “candidate-less” along with “issue-less”, and that in candidate selection this time, I.N.D.I.A parties would “cheat” their partners. He said the sidelining of Das exposed the “democracy within the Congress”.

Bhatt also said that the state unit has forwarded names of “top 3” contenders for the bypoll ticket to the Central Parliamentary Board after deliberation, and that the latter would announce the candidate. There has been speculation that the BJP might nominate either the wife or son of Chandan Ram Dass.

Claiming that leaders of various political parties are joining the BJP similarly impressed by the PM and CM, Bhatt said Das is popular for his social work along with politics. “With his arrival, the party will be strengthened, and we will get more than 94% votes in the by-election,” he said.

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Congress state president Karan Mahara told The Indian Express that the party regrets its decision to support Das all along, as he left the party when he was “needed the most”. However, Mahara added, Das leaving would not have any negative impact on the Congress and claimed that charged party workers had vowed to “take revenge and defeat the BJP”.

“This is the biggest example of opportunism. The Congress had made Ranjit’s father (Gopal Ram Das) a Cabinet minister in the undivided Uttar Pradesh. After that, he contested from the BSP, but Harish Rawatji forgave him and decided to support Ranjit Das. He was given a Congress ticket in the election to municipal council chairman. Later he served as OSD to CM Rawat, and last time he was given an MLA ticket. His name was also in the list of three-four probable candidates for the bypoll,” said Mahara, adding that there were leaders who had spent their lives in the party without getting any ticket.

In the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections, the BJP had won 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly, with the Congress winning 19.

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