Uttarakhand

Dehradun, Jan 27 (PTI) Former Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay has been expelled from the party for six years for anti-party activities amid speculation that he might join the BJP.

Upadhyay was earlier removed from all party positions as a disciplinary action after he met BJP leaders here, including the party's election in-charge for Uttarakhand Pralhad Joshi.

Dehradun, Jan 22 (PTI) Denial of tickets has left powerful contenders in the BJP seething with discontent with several of them either preparing to cross over to other parties or enter the poll arena as independents.

While a number of those left out are sulking as the party has preferred Congress defectors over dedicated party cadres on many seats in its first list of 59 candidates, a few have come out in the open with their wounded feelings.

The most notable of them are the sitting MLA from Tharali Munni Devi Shah and Dwarahat MLA Mahesh Negi.

Dehradun, Jan 17 (PTI) Fresh charges have been slapped on Yati Narsinghanand for abusing a journalist and photographer after being offended by a question they had asked during an interview.

The Dasna temple priest has already been sent to 14 days' judicial custody in the Dharma Sansad hate speech case.

The fresh charges were slapped on the Dasna temple head priest on the basis of a complaint filed by a journalist, Haridwar city police station SHO Rakinder Singh Kathait said.

Dehradun, Jan 17 (PTI) In a shot in the arm for the BJP ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in Uttarakhand, Pradesh Mahila Congress president Sarita Arya on Monday joined the saffron party.

The former Nainital MLA joined the BJP at its state headquarters here in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Pradesh party president Madan Kaushik and other leaders.

Arya was keen on a ticket from Nainital constituency but was doubtful about the Congress fielding her.

Dehradun, Jan 13 (PTI) With the ruling BJP fiercely defending its throne and the opposition Congress desperate to avenge its 2017 humilation, a do-or-die battle is on the cards on February 14, when the two parties grapple with each other yet again in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls.

The largely bipolar politics of the state involving the two national parties, which have been alternately in power, has got a new twist this time with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also in the fray, offering itself as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

Dehradun, Jan 8 (PTI) Political rallies, dharnas and demonstrations have been banned in poll-bound Uttarakhand till January 16 in view of the rising coronavirus cases, according to an official order.

In fresh guidelines issued late Friday night that come into effect from Sunday, Chief Secretary SS Sandhu said all political rallies, dharnas, demonstrations and public events like cultural gatherings etc will remain suspended in the state till January 16.

Dehradun, Jan 3 (PTI) A second FIR has been lodged against 10 persons in connection with a Dharma Sansad held in Haridwar where hate speeches were allegedly delivered by some participants against Muslims.

The second FIR in the case was lodged at Jwalapur police station in Haridwar on Sunday on the basis of a complaint lodged by Nadeem Ali, a resident of the area, said senior sub-inspector of Jwalapur Nitesh Sharma.

Dehradun, Dec 30 (PTI) Uttarakhand Raksha Abhiyan founder Darshan Bharti has submitted a complaint to Dehradun SSP Janmejay Khanduri against AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi for allegedly instigating people against the Hindu religion and issuing an open threat to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, endangering his life.

In a letter handed over to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) on Wednesday, Bharti accused the Hyderabad MP of instigating people against the Hindu religion and threatening those who believe in it.

Dehradun, Dec 15 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said some forces want to spoil India's ties with Nepal, but asserted the government would not allow that to happen at any cost.

Addressing the ground breaking ceremony of Sainya Dham (martyrs memorial) here, he also said the country's armed forces are free to take their own decisions.

"There are some forces which want to spoil our ties with Nepal but I want to tell you as a representative of the government that we will not let that happen come what may," he said.

Dehradun, Dec 14 (PTI) An RSS leader from Nagpur, Sukumar Satyanarayan Kare, who had left Delhi for Dehradun on December 8 has been missing for nearly a week.

Kare, who serves the RSS as a sangathan mantri (organisational secretary), started from Delhi for Dehradun by the Shatabdi Express train on December 8 but did not reach here, the Government Railway Police, Dehradun, which has registered a case in connection with his disappearance, said on Tuesday.