Prominent Dalit leader Yashpal Arya is the strongest contender for the CM’s chair if the Congress wins Uttarakhand.

A four time MLA, Arya has served as the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly.

The Congress high command has recently re-nominated Arya as the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, thereby signalling his growing prominence within the party hierarchy.

Arya is known for his closeness to former chief minister ND Tiwari even as he shares an uncomfortable relationship with the other Congress strongman form the state, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat.

He maintains a non-controversial image and had played a pivotal role in ensuring the party’s victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections by forging a Muslim-Dalit combine.