Upadhyay takes charge as U'khand Cong chief, rubbishes reports

Newly-appointed Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay formally assumed charge at the party headquarters here this evening, amidst conspicuous absence of former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and his loyalists.
Upadhyay, who was appointed state president on June 11, reached the party office in an open jeep along with former state Congress president Yashpal Arya, and was welcomed by scores of leaders and supporters.
Senior party leaders like Arya, Pritam Singh, Dinesh Aggarwal, Sarita Arya and Ganesh were present at the event and congratulated Upadhyay on being appointed the new state president.
However, the event was marked by conspicuous absence of Bahuguna, Subodh Uniyal and other MLAs who are believed to be closer to the former chief minister.

Uniyal, a Bahuguna loyalist, was among the front-runners for the post of state president, but eventually lost to Upadhyay, who is believed to be a incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat loyalist.
Earlier in the day, Upadhyay denied reports of factionalism in the state unit and said that everyone was committed to work together for the party.

"There is no factionalism in the party's state unit and every leader is committed to work together for strengthening the party," Upadhyay told PTI.
Upadhyay also rubbished reports of differences with Uniyal and said he had met Uniyal and both of them were committed to work for the party's progress.

My priority would be to take everyone along so that the party can be strengthened, Upadhyay said, adding that if the party is strong all leaders will benefit from it.