Uttarakhand bypolls: Independent MLA Ram Singh Kaira joins BJP in Delhi

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, Independent MLA from Uttarakhand's Bhimtal assembly, Ram Singh Kaira joined Bhartiya Janata Party on Friday. He joined BJP in the presence of Union Minister Smriti Irani along with Uttarakhand state in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Dushyant Gautam, Uttarakhand BJP state president Madan Kaushik and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni at the party headquarters in Delhi. Along with that, Okhalkanda block chief and his wife Kamlesh Kaira also joined BJP on Friday.

After joining BJP, MLA Ram Singh Kaira addressed the media and spoke about the party. He said that BJP has kept its workers as a family and this is the reason why there are no issues among the party leaders and workers. Kaira further asserted that he will follow the legacy of the party and respect other party workers and leaders just like it did being an MLA. 

Meanwhile, BJP leader Sabyasachi Dutta also joined Trinamool Congress on Thursday, October 7. Having won from the Rajarhat New Town Assembly constituency in the 2011 and 2016 elections, Dutta joined BJP in October 2019. He lost to TMC's Sujit Bose from Bidhannagar in the 2021 Assembly polls by a margin of 7997 votes. 

Responding to this development, Union MoS Home Nisith Pramanik stated, "Some people join another party for their personal ambitions but when they fail to achieve that, they return. It is quite common in politics. There is nothing unexpected in it". 

Who is Ram Singh Kaira?

A resident of Kaida village from Okhalkanda block, Ram Singh Kaira became an independent MLA in 2017 from the Bhimtal assembly seat. Earlier, he contested the Congress seat as an MLA from the assembly, but after failing to get a ticket from the Congress, he contested as an independent candidate and won the seat. 

Meanwhile, the state is all set to go into polls next year in February to elect 70 members of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. The term of the current assembly which was elected in 2017 will expire on 23 March 2022. There are estimations regarding the victory of BJP in the state assembly elections thus leading to the defeat of Congress. 

Image: Twitter/@BJPIndia