Mahendra Bhatt (50), former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Badrinath, has been appointed as the next state president of Uttarakhand. Bhatt replaces Madan Kaushik, a party MLA from Haridwar who was appointed last year and failed to get a cabinet berth in the Pushkar Singh Dhami government.
A hero of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir movement, Mahendra Bhatt rose through the ranks within the party over the past three decades. He entered the state assembly twice but lost to a Congress candidate in the assembly elections earlier this year.
However, his defeat in the election hardly made any difference as he remained ‘blue-eyed’ among top BJP leaders and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers.
Since BJP national president JP Nadda met him in the national capital earlier this week, it was speculated that Bhatt might be picked for the organizational top role.
Interestingly, Bhatt played with Hindu fundamentalist ideology and some of his statements led to a political battle with the opposition Congress. Whether to restrict the entry of non-Hindus into the Char Dham or to avoid “barbers” of a particular community, Bhatt stirred up the political temperature.
“I strongly support nationalism, but I am not against any religion,” Bhatt told News18.
A Brahmin from the Garhwal hills, Bhatt had also served as secretary in the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) when the current CM Pushkar was the BJYM president. There is a good rapport between the two leaders and this is a connection that the party could have considered before electing him as its president.
“I wished Mahendra Bhattji all the best. He is an experienced organizational leader and will contribute to the development of the party.” CM Dhami said.
With the rise of Bhatt, the saffron party has apparently struck a balance between the Kumaon and Garhwal regions. In addition, a caste balance has also been taken into account. Bhatt is a Brahmin from Garhwal while CM Dhami is a Thakur from Kumaon.
The party is yet to decide on a new role for outgoing president Madan Kaushik, whose image was given a tough fight in Haridwar district by his own party leaders for supporting BSP candidates in the assembly elections.
Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar are the two districts in the plains of Uttarakhand with maximum 20 assembly seats and the BJP did not perform as expected in the assembly elections in both the districts. This is also being told one of the reasons for Kaushik’s removal.
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