'Better to form new party in Uttarakhand as Congress on destruction path'

DEHRADUN: The recent appointments made in Uttarakhand Congress cadre have widened the rift among the top brass in the state with some disgruntled members even supporting the idea of breaking up from Congress and forming a new party.As reported by TOI, Congress had named Karan Mahara as the state chief, Yashpal Arya as the leader of opposition and Bhuvan Chand Kapri as the deputy leader of opposition. A day after Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh expressed his discontent over the new appointments, his Dharchula counterpart, Harish Dhami made strong comments against the party's state unit on Tuesday.The three-time MLA, who was being seen as a frontrunner for the post of leader of opposition, said, "While assigning the three key posts, Congress overlooked the fact that Uttarakhand has a high population of defence personnel (both serving and retired) and someone from military background should have been given at least one of the positions. They ignored a sizeable vote bank. Congress only has room for sycophants here."Sources have maintained that around 10 out of the 19 elected MLAs -- who are unhappy with the current situation -- are expected to meet in Dehradun on Wednesday evening "to discuss the future course of action". When asked about the proposed meeting, Dhami said, "The party is on the path of destruction. We (the legislators) are going to meet and discuss the options available to us. It is better for all MLAs to come together and form a regional party as the Congress leadership is not interested in the state unit."Besides Dhami and Singh, Congress MLA from Dwarahat, Madan Bisht, and supporters of local party leaders like Rajendra Bhandari and Mamta Rakesh have also expressed their displeasure over the new appointments.Meanwhile, the findings of the poll performance report submitted to the Congress's national leadership by party observers Avinash Pandey and Devender Yadav have also irked several MLAs and party workers in the hill state.