Uttarakhand Election 2017: ND Tiwari, son Rohit Shekhar join BJP, setback for Congress

Former Uttarakhand chief minister ND Tiwari and his son Rohit Shekhar joined the BJP on Wednesday, giving the party a major boost ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly election and dealing a blow to the Congress party. Tiwari and Shekhar joined the BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah.

Delhi: Narayan Dutt Tiwari and his son Rohit Shekhar have joined BJP in the presence of party President Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/2kzIezFRs7

— ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2017

Tiwari, a Congress veteran, has served as chief minister of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh and held several important positions in the Congress-led governments over the years. He was forced to resign after a sex scandal. Tiwari wants a ticket for his son Rohit Shekhar from the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, Zee News reported. After a six-year legal battle to establish paternity, Shekhar was acknowledged by Tiwari as his son three years ago. This latest defection comes after senior Uttarakhand Congress leader and minister in the state cabinet Yashpal Arya joined the BJP on Monday. Arya, along with his son Sanjeev, joined the BJP in the presence Shah, BJP in-charge of Uttarakhand Shyam Jaju and senior BJP leaders from Uttarakhand, including former chief ministers Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and BC Khanduri, Arya, a six-term MLA, was said to be not getting along well with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Arya said he had full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s politics of performance and party president’s vision. Meanwhile, on Monday, Union minister JP Nadda announced the list of 64 candidates for the upcoming election to the 70-seat Uttarakhand Assembly scheduled for 15 February. With inputs from agencies