Mahendra Bhatt (50), a 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 find a cabinet berth in the incumbent Pushkar Singh Dhami government.
A protégée of the Ram Janmbhoomi temple movement, Mahendra Bhatt rose through the ranks within party over the past three decades. He twice entered the state assembly but earlier this year lost to a Congress candidate in the assembly polls.
However, his loss in the election hardly made any difference as he remained ‘blue-eyed’ among BJP’s top brass and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) cadres.
Since BJP national president JP Nadda met him in the national capital earlier this week, it was speculated that Bhatt could be picked for the organisational top role.
Interestingly, Bhatt toyed with Hindu hard-line ideology and some of his statements led to political combat with the opposition Congress. Be it restricting entry of the non-Hindus to Char Dham or avoiding “barbers” of a particular community, Bhatt stirred the political temperature.
“I strongly support nationalism but I am not against any religion,” Bhatt said to News18 when asked whether his hardline stand helped him for the new role.
A Brahmin from Garhwal hills, Bhatt had also worked as a secretary in Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) when present CM Pushkar was BJYM president. Both the leaders share a good rapport and this is one connection that the party could have considered before picking him as president.
“I extended best wishes to Mahendra Bhattji. He is an experienced organizational leader and will contribute to the growth of the party” CM Dhami said.
With Bhatt’s elevation, the saffron party has apparently struck a balance between Kumaon and Garhwal regions. Besides, a caste balance has also been kept in mind. 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 the outgoing president Madan Kaushik whose image was hit hard by his own party leaders in Haridwar district for allegedly backing BSP candidates in the assembly elections.
Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar are two districts in the plains of Uttarakhand with a maximum of 20 assembly seats and in both districts, BJP didn’t perform as per expectations in the assembly polls. This is said to be one of the reasons for Kaushik’s removal.
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