Newsmaker: Latest Bahuguna among youngest ministers, BJP jumps parivarvaad hoops

🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️

One of the stalwarts of Uttar Pradesh politics, Bahuguna had taken the oath as the eighth UP CM on November 8, 1973. A heavyweight Congress leader, Bahuguna was heading the UP government when the state went to the hustings in early 1974, and was sworn in as the CM again on March 5, 1974, following the party’s poll victory. During the Emergency, he left the Congress and joined the Janata Party. At the Centre, he became the minister for petroleum, chemicals and fertilisers in the Morarji Desai government, and later the finance minister in the short-lived Charan Singh government.

A Garhwali Brahmin, Bahuguna was born in Bughani village in the Garhwal region, although he studied and settled down in Allahabad (now Prayagraj).

His second wife Kamala Bahuguna had also served as an MP from UP.

Bahuguna had two sons, Vijay Bahuguna and Shekhar Bahuguna, and a daughter Rita Bahuguna. All of them started their political innings with the Congress and later switched to the saffron party.

Bahuguna’s elder son Vijay Bahuguna, a former Bombay High Court judge, became the Uttarakhand CM after the Congress managed to form its government following the 2012 Assembly polls. He was then Congress MP from Tehri Garhwal. He later contested and won the by-election from the Sitarganj Assembly constituency.

Vijay served as the CM for two years, following which he was replaced with senior Congress leader Harish Rawat. It was reported that the Congress central leadership was upset with his alleged inept handling of the 2013 Kedarnath flash flood disaster. Subsequently, he defected to the BJP.

Saurabh is the son of Vijay Bahuguna. He had been associated with the Congress’s students wing NSUI. He joined the BJP along with his father in 2016.

In the 2017 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, Saurabh contested from his father’s seat, Sitarganj, as a BJP candidate and defeated the Congress nominee Malti Biswas with a margin of over 28,000 votes.

In the 2022 elections, Saurabh retained his Sitarganj seat by defeating Congress nominee Navtej Pal Singh with a margin of over 10,000 votes.

A lawyer by profession, Saurabh completed his LLB from APS University in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. He is also a national-level golfer and has claimed to have represented India in various events in 15 countries, including in the World Cup Golf in Adelaide.

At a time when PM Modi has been speaking out against “parivarvaad” (dynasty politics), Saurabh’s induction into the Dhami Cabinet has raised some eyebrows in the BJP circles. However, the BJP has officially defended his inclusion in the ministry.

“We are very much against parivarvaad, but if a person proves himself then that is not parivarvaad for us. For us, parivaarvaad is something where a parent uses his or her influence but that is not the case for Saurabh Bahuguna. His father is not active in politics anymore. The question should be raised when the person is undeserving and more deserving candidates are ignored. Saurabh is well-educated and has proved himself. His last 5 years as an MLA were phenomenal,” said BJP spokesperson Shadab Shams.

However, it is believed that Saurabh was inducted as a minister after the party decided to drop an incumbent minister Arvind Pandey.

BJP sources said the party wanted someone from Udham Singh Nagar district to be part of the Cabinet. Pandey represents Gadarpur seat from the district, but he was dropped from the new ministry over allegations that he had worked against some party candidates in his belt during the polls.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi is the former UP Congress chief, who defected to the BJP ahead of the 2017 UP polls. She won her seat in that election and became a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government. She is currently a BJP MP from Prayagraj. Her son Mayank Joshi, however, recently joined the Samajwadi Party (SP).