Uttarakhand: Amid speculations of Kishore Upadhyay getting BJP's ticket for Tehri seat, incumbent MLA Dhan Singh Negi joins Congress

DEHRADUN: Hours after former Uttarakhand Congress chief

Kishore Upadhyay

joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), incumbent

Tehri

MLA

Dhan Singh Negi

joined the Congress at the residence of former state chief minister Harish Rawat on Thursday morning.

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Negi's move to jump ship comes in the wake of speculations that the the BJP will field Upadhyay from Tehri, a constituency which the latter has won twice in the 2002 and 2007 assembly elections.

According to TOI sources, Negi is likely to be made the Congress candidate from the Tehri constituency.

After Negi's induction into the party, Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni told TOI, “We welcome Negi to our party. He won the Tehri seat in 2017 through hard work. BJP denying ticket to Negi is a grave injustice as he has remained dedicated towards the people of Tehri.”

In 2017, Negi had won the Tehri seat with a margin of 6,840 seats.

Independent candidate Dinesh Dhani had finished second with 14,056 votes whereas the Congress candidate

Narendra Chand

Ramola was a distant third with just 4,466 votes.

Meanwhile, on being asked about Upadhyay joining the BJP, Dasauni said, “It is very unfortunate that he chose to end his 40-to-45-year-long association with the Congress. He will be a complete misfit in the BJP and regret his decision soon."