On 11th October 2021, Yashpal Arya, the minister of Transport in the Government of Uttarakhand, also a prominent Dalit face along with his MLA son Sanjeev Arya bid farewell to BJP and rejoined hands with the Congress, delivering a blow to the upcoming elections in the state.
Who are Yashpal Arya and Sanjeev Arya?
Yashpal Arya was also a former speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly and an Indian National Congress leader. He served as the President of the Congress Party’s Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee from 2007 till 2014.
He also was elected from the Bajpur Assembly constituency in 2012 and was being the frontrunner for the chief ministerial candidature.
Due to the revolt of 2016 with Harish Rawat, the duo was compelled to quit BJP; the pair had left the Congress in 2017 before the state assembly elections and has joined their hands with the BJP in January 2017.
Yashpal has served as the cabinet minister for Transportation, Social Welfare, Minority Welfare, Students Welfare, Rural Water Reservoirs Development, Remote areas Development, Sub-Divisional Development and Management, Backward Areas Development programs from 2017-2021 in BJP.
Sanjeev Arya, the son of Yashpal Arya, is an MLA at the Nainital Constituency of Uttarakhand. He also has resigned from Congress due to revolts and had joined hands with the BJP.
What does Dalit Leader Yashpal Arya’s Homecoming mean for Congress?
Congress sees Yashpal Arya’s Bajpur constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district as a ‘golden catch,’ with most voters being Dalit Sikhs.
After a prominent Dalit leader and transport minister, Arya returned to the Congress ahead of the Uttarakhand election in 2022; the Congress hopes to catch up with his Bajpur seat.
Arya is a prominent personality with a strong dominance in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. Congress is looking forward to getting more from this intact and robust bond.
Arya’s joining the party seems to be a larger plot of drawing in 18% Dalit votes in Uttarakhand; by drawing in 18% of the Dalit votes, the party hopes to add over 7-10 percent of percent votes, which would aid in winning over a dozen of seats in the districts.
He is the first one to stage the comeback to Congress.
The welcome Ceremony of the duo at the Congress
On rejoining the Congress party, the duo was welcomed warmly by leaders Harish Rawat and KC Venugopal. The ceremony took place at the All-India Congress Committee headquarters at Akbar Road.
“He (Yashpal Arya) has just tendered resignation from the post of Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister,” Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said. Surjewala also stated that in his previous stint in the Congress, Arya had served as the chief of Uttarakhand Congress for a long time.
Yashpal Arya said he was delighted to have returned to the Congress Party and wishes to serve the party without any conditions.
“Today, I am coming back to my family and returning home. There can’t be a day better than this. In my political life of 40 years, I have continued to work as a district president, speaker, and state president.
I will serve Congress without any conditions and will cooperate in the formation of the Congress government in the state, “Arya was quoted as saying by PTI.
The exit of the Arya duo gives a prominent signal of how fast the time is changing and where the pendulum bends.
