Ex-Congress chief of Uttarakhand, Kishore Upadhyay, expelled from party

Congress has expelled former state unit chief Kishore Upadhyay from the party for indulging in “ani-party” activities. In a letter dated January 26, the party in-charge of Uttarakhand, Devender Yadav, informed Upadhayay that he has been expelled from Congress for six years with immediate effect.

“Since you had been continuously indulging yourself in anti party activities despite warnings. So you are hereby expelled from the primary membership of congress party for six years with immediate effect,” the letter read.

Speculations were rife over Upadhyay’s future in Congress after his name was missing from the third list of candidates released on Wednesday for Uttarakhand assembly elections.

Upadhyay, who was recently removed from all the party posts as a disciplinary action, wanted the revocation of suspension, reported ANI citing people familiar with the matter.

Reports suggest that Upadhyay may contest from Tehri Assembly constituency on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ticket.

Meanwhile, Congress has decided to field former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Singh Rawat from Lalkuwa, instead of Ramnagar, which went to Mahender Pal Singh. In its third list of candidates, Congress changed the seat of Harish Singh Rawat and four other leaders.

The Congress candidates and their respective seats in the third list are: Harish Rawat (Lalkuwa), Om Gopal Rawat (Narendranagar), Gaurav Chaudhary (Doiwala), Ravi Bahadur (Jwalapur-SC), Yashpal Rana (Roorkee), Anupama Rawat (Hardwar Rural), Kesar Singh Rawat (Chaubattakhal), Ranjit Rawat (Salt), Mahesh Sharma (Kaladhungi), Mahender Pal Singh (Ramnagar).