Manish Khanduri — son of veteran BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Retd Major General Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri — resigned from the primary membership of Congress on March 8.
Mr. Khanduri had joined the Congress before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Party sources say that he has now quit as the party is unlikely to give him a ticket for the upcoming general election from his desired constituency.
“I am resigning from primary membership of the Indian National Congress, and all associated positions. I have taken this decision without anticipation or expectation of any personal gain,” Mr. Khanduri said, announcing his decision in a Facebook post.
‘Sidelined’
He did not cite any reason for his resignation but Congress sources told The Hindu that he was upset with recent developments in the party. “He was being sidelined even when he was giving his best to the Congress. He was writing blogs on Bharat Jodo Yatra almost every day while most leaders in Uttarakhand were busy securing seats for themselves. He was willing to fight in the tough seat of Pauri with almost no support,” a senior Congress leader said.
In 2019, Mr. Khanduri quit the BJP and joined the Congress for the same reason: the BJP denied him a chance to contest the poll, instead giving a ticket to his father’s close aide Tirath Singh Rawat. The Congress then fielded Mr. Khanduri from the Pauri seat, but Mr. Rawat defeated him by more than three lakh votes. His victorious opponent was also briefly Chief Minister of the State.
‘Family pressure’
Commenting on Mr. Khanduri’s resignation, Uttarakhand Congress president Karan Mahara said that he had tried to reach out to him but failed. “It is not true that he was being sidelined. The party gave him full respect and also a ticket in 2019. I understand that sometimes there is family pressure too. His father is a senior BJP leader and his sister Ritu Khanduri too is Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly at present,” he said, adding that he would still talk to Mr. Khanduri and try to find out the reason for his resignation.
BJP State president and newly elected Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Bhatt said: “Every one is quitting the Congress. We have requested him [Mr. Khanduri] to make his way to the BJP. If he comes, we will welcome him into the party.”
The BJP is yet to finalise its candidate from Pauri. While local leaders claim that Mr. Rawat is going to retain the ticket, there is speculation that Anil Baluni, senior party leader and former Rajya Sabha MP from Uttarakhand, may be named as the candidate from the seat instead.
