A senior minister in the BJP ruling Uttarakhand has resigned from the post and quitted the party on Monday. He had joined the Congress party and the development has come ahead of the crucial assembly polls, which will be taking place next year.

According to reports, Uttarakhand Transport Minister Yashpal Arya has quitted the BJP and joined Congress on Monday in New Delhi. Yashpal Arya's son Sanjiv Arya, who was also with the BJP, followed his father's footsteps and joined the Congress in the ceremony that had drawn major attention from both the camps. It was a homecoming for the Aryas as they have again come back to the Congress party after four years.

The Aryas had joined the Congress party in the presence of Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal and senior leader Harish Rawat. Both the father and son were with the Congress until before the last assembly polls and ahead of the 2017 polls, they had quitted the Congress and joined BJP and Yashpal Arya went on to win the polls and a seat in the state's cabinet. Four years after, the duo has again come back to the Congress. 

Speaking about the induction of the Aryas, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that Yashpal Arya has tendered resignation from the post of Uttarakhand cabinet minister. "Yashpal Arya has served as the Chief of Pradesh Congress Committee for a long time in Uttarakhand. He has been an MLA six times - two times from Uttar Pradesh and four times from Uttarakhand", Surjewala added. 

Surjewala further said Yashpal Arya has done positive and constructive work in North India. Congress General Secretary Venugopal has expressed his happiness over the joining of the Aryas. He said that both the leaders have returned home. Commenting about his homecoming, Yashpal Arya said, "I am talking to you in the holy temple (Congress). Today is an important day for me. Today, under the leadership and blessings of our leader Rahul Ji, I have got the opportunity to visit the Congress temple." 

Yashpal added, "Today, I am coming back to my family and returning home. There can't be a day better than this. In my political life of 40 years, I have continued to work as district president, speaker, state president. I will serve Congress without any condition and will cooperate in the formation of the Congress government in the state." It must be noted that Yashpal had quitted the Congress in 2017 after he dissented against the then Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat for his governance and he has now joined back with the claim that he has been getting ignored by the Central ruling party. Through Yashpal's exit, BJP has lost a strong Dalit face, which has been unbeaten since the formation of Uttarakhand.