NEW DELHI: With months left for the coming state assembly elections to be held in Uttarakhand next year,  Influential Dalit Congress MLA from Uttarakhand, Rajkumar on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

As aBig blow to Congress in Uttarakhand, Second term MLA from Purola, Rajkumar joined BJP in presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, state BJP chief Madan Kaushik, Rajya Sabha member and national media head Anil Baluni and national media co-in-charge Sanjay Mayukh at party headquarters. Welcoming Rajkumar in the party, Kaushik said, “He is two-term MLA and a tall Scheduled Caste leader having influence across the state. Rajkumar's joining has come days after independent MLA from Dhanaulti in Tehri Garhwal district Pritam Singh Panwar joined BJP a few days ago in Delhi. He was welcomed in the party folds by Pradhan by handing him the party membership token before the media.

Rajkumar, who was earlier an MLA with the BJP from 2007-2012 from the Sahaspur constituency of Dehradun district, fought independently from Purola in the 2012 elections and lost. He then joined Congress in the 2017 elections and won from Purola.

Karnataka CM Bommai declares a green budget to protect ecology and forests

Prices of platform tickets reduced at 11 railway stations

Gujarat gets new CM, BJP seals Bhupendra Patel's name