The exodus of Congress leaders and former legislators to the BJP in Uttarakhand continues, with Anukriti Gusain, daughter-in-law of senior Uttarakhand Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today. Mahendra Bhatt, the BJP state president, welcomed her into the party, along with several of her supporters. Gusain, a former beauty pageant winner, had previously contested the 2022 Assembly polls from Lansdowne constituency on a Congress ticket but was unsuccessful.
This development comes approximately a month after both Gusain and her father-in-law were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with an alleged forest scam. Gusain, who won the Femina Miss India Grand International title in 2017, faced scrutiny after the ED conducted search operations in Uttarakhand, New Delhi, and Haryana under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in February.
The allegations against Rawat pertain to illegalities surrounding the felling of trees, financial irregularities, and unauthorized construction in the Pakhro Tiger Reserve range of Corbett National Park in 2019. Rawat, a former BJP member who championed the Pakhro Tiger Reserve development during his tenure as forest minister, has switched parties multiple times throughout his political career.
Initially elected as an MLA from Pauri on a BJP ticket in 1991, Rawat later joined the BSP and subsequently the Congress in 1998. He served as MLA from Lansdowne from 2002 to 2007 and was the Leader of the Opposition in the state from 2007 to 2012. Despite losing to Vijay Bahuguna in the 2012 chief ministerial race, Rawat was inducted into the Cabinet. In 2016, he was among the Congress rebel legislators who aligned with the BJP to challenge the government of then CM Harish Rawat.
However, in January 2022, the Uttarakhand BJP expelled Rawat from the party for six years due to disciplinary issues. Subsequently, he joined the Congress along with his daughter-in-law, Anukriti Gusain. Gusain, a former pageant contestant, made her electoral debut in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections but was defeated by Daleep Singh Rawat, the incumbent BJP MLA and son of influential party leader Bharat Singh Rawat.