Dehradun: Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand PCC president Yashpal Arya, who on Monday joined the BJP, said he quit the grand old party with a "heavy heart".


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Arya, a Congress veteran and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat's Cabinet colleague, today sprang a surprise by joining the BJP in the presence of its president Amit Shah in New Delhi. Arya's son Sanjeev Arya and former party legislator from Yamunotri Kedar Singh Rawat also joined BJP.


"Having served a party for 40 years as a worker, I bade farewell to it with a heavy heart," said Arya, a six-term MLA.


Though he did not name anyone, he said he had long been hurt by the way he was being ignored both at the government and organisational level.


"I do not want to make a comment by taking anyone's name but I was not even given a place in the coordination committee constituted to create better coordination between the government and the organisation despite having been active in the Congress for so many years," Arya said.


He said he had long kept mum over the neglect of his constituency and its workers but his silence was mistaken for his weakness.


After being ignored by the party high command for so long, he took the step today with a heavy heart, Arya said.


He said his and his son Sanjeev's entry into the party had been totally unconditional.


Meanwhile, Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay alleged Arya had taken the step to save himself from an action on the corruption charges against him.
Denying that his exit would mar Congress' prospects in the upcoming assembly elections, Upadhyay said BJP, on the contrary, would be harmed by his presence.