Uttarakhand polls: Upset with Harish Rawat, Congress' Kishore Upadhyay meets BJP leaders

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 4 (ANI): Rift in Uttarakhand Congress does not seem to end as party's former state president Kishore Upadhyay has started meeting Bharatiya Janata Party leaders ahead of assembly polls as he is upset the attitude of Harish Rawat towards him, said a source.
"Chairman of the campaign committee Harish Rawat is constantly ignoring Upadhyay. Even after Rawat's recent meeting with Rahul Gandhi, his attitude towards Upadhyay did not improve," said a source.
"He met Union Minister Prahlad Joshi and Uttarakhand BJP organization general secretary Arun Kumar in Dehradun on Monday," the source added.
Sources said that Upadhyay has been running a movement for the preservation of land, water and forest.
"Various parties are contacting him to support that movement. Everyone knows that the state Congress is not giving attention or helping him in the movement. Even BJP leaders are in connection with him and ready to support the movement," they added.
As of now, sources close to Upadhyay are not confirming that whether he will BJP or will remain in Congress.
"Upadhyay is also meeting with the leaders of Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress," said the source.
Sources say that Upadhyay, who is known to be close to the Gandhi family, is waiting for the party's high command to interfere in the matter.
Harish Rawat on December 24 announced that he will be leading the Uttarakhand elections as the chairman of the campaign committee after meeting with Rahul Gandhi.
Rawat met Gandhi two days after making a veiled attack on the Congress leadership ahead of assembly polls in Uttarakhand over the "lack of cooperation" from the state unit.
Assembly polls in Uttarakhand are due early this year. (ANI)