Uttarakhand news: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Mahendra Bhatt as the president of the party's Uttarakhand unit.
Bhatt, a former MLA of Nandaprayag in Chamoli district, replaces Haridwar MLA Mahesh Kaushik as the BJP's state unit chief. Bhatt lost in the assembly polls held earlier this year.
"BJP National President JP Nadda has appointed Mahendra Bhatt as the state president of the party in Uttarakhand. This appointment will come into force with immediate effect," stated the official letter issued by Nadda's office.
Know more about Mahendra Bhatt:
Mahendra Bhatt was an MLA from the Badrinath assembly seat twice. He has a strong hold in the BJP organization, besides being popular in Garhwal and Kumaon.In March 2022, the BJP retained power in Uttarakhand with a comfortable majority, breaking the trend of the hill state voting out the ruling party.
With the appointment of Bhatt, a brahmin leader from the Garwhal region, the BJP has tried to strike a balance between caste and region. Chief Minster Pushkar Singh Dhami is a Thakur from the Kumaon region.
A senior party leader said Bhatt has risen through the ranks after working in Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the BJP's youth wing. He is of RSS background.
The BJP has won 47 assembly seats out of the total 70, belying pollsters who had predicted a close race between the saffron party and the Congress. Congress won 19 seats.
The Aam Aadmi Party which had promised a number of freebies could not open its account despite fielding candidates from all the 70 seats.
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