Congress names Yashpal Arya leader of opposition in Uttarakhand
After the defeat in the Uttarakhand assembly elections 2022, Congress Uttarakhand has made a major reshuffle in the organization. The party high command has entrusted Karan Mahara as the State President, Yashpal Arya as Leader of Opposition and Bhuvan Chand Kapri as Deputy Leader of Opposition. The influence of former Chief Minister Harish Rawat nor former Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh is visible on this decision of the High Command. While Yashpal fits into both the camps, the names of Mahra and Kapri have not come directly to any faction. However, Pritam Singh supporters have got a big setback. It was believed that the high command would again hand over the responsibility of the Leader of the Opposition post to Pritam.
Yashpal Arya
Yashpal Arya’s political innings began after meeting veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari in the 1977 general election. In 1984, Yashpal Arya was elected village head in his village. After that he was appointed as District Youth Congress President of Nainital. In 1989 he became an MLA from Khatima constituency on a Congress ticket. He had to face defeat in the 1991 elections, but in 1993, he came back winning again. In 1996, he had to face defeat again from Khatima, but he did not face defeat in any subsequent elections. Arya became a strong contender for the chief minister’s post in 2012. But Vijay Bahuguna won at the last minute. In 2002 and 2007, he became MLA from reserved seat Mukteshwar and in 2012 from Bajpur on Congress ticket. He was re-elected MLA from Bajpur after joining BJP just before the elections in 2017. Yashpal was the Pradesh Congress President from 2007 to 2014. In the year 2002, he became the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. In 2012, when the Congress came to power again, he got the Irrigation, Revenue and Technical Education portfolios in the Vijay Bahuguna government. After joining the BJP in 2017, he was the Minister of Transport, Social Welfare, Minority Welfare and Excise Departments in the BJP government.
