A two-decade-old video where some heavyweight Uttarakhand politicians are purportedly seen enjoying themselves at a Mumbai dance bar has triggered mud-slinging in the hill state and also sparked claims of a rift within the BJP.

Pranav Singh Champion, a former BJP MLA of Khanpur who was earlier associated with the Congress, shared the video on social media where he is seen sitting on a sofa in a bar and showering cash on a woman dancer. Champion said Congress MLA Ganesh Godiyal, a person resembling whom is seen in the clip, had organised the party in Mumbai in 2003.

Soon, Godiyal pointed out that Mahendra Bhatt, the president of the Uttarakhand BJP, is also seen in the video. As the controversy intensified on Friday, sources in the BJP said Champion had deliberately posted the old video on social media to mischievously target Bhatt. The sources said Champion was feeling sidelined under Bhatt’s leadership.

Champion said the video was recorded when Congress and BJP leaders had gone to Mumbai in 2003 to campaign for their parties in the Maharashtra elections.

“There were some Congress and BJP leaders in the party, including our current state president (Bhatt). But I would like to refresh the memory of my brother, Godiyal, that I was an Independent MLA then and later joined the Congress. You (Godiyal) had taken us to a dance bar in Navi Mumbai and organised a show for us,” Champion said in a video message.

“Harak Singh Rawat (the Congress MLA of Lansdowne at that time) had also danced with the bar girls. I am a wrestler and don’t know how to dance. I was watching the dance the way (actor) Dharmendra would in his films. Shame on you (Godiyal),”
he added.

Champion, who belongs to a royal family, had first won from the Laksar Assembly seat in Haridwar district as an Independent in 2002 and later joined the Congress. He switched to the BJP in 2017. He was suspended from the BJP in 2019 after a video showed him dancing with firearms in his hands. His suspension was revoked in 2022 and the BJP fielded his wife, Devyani Singh, from Khanpur, but she lost to an Independent candidate.

“You (Godiyal) did this because I am in the BJP now. I warn you to mind your language, or I’ll expose everybody,” Champion said.

Laughing off the entire episode, Bhatt said: “I don’t get into such things and don’t reply to the lies of my critics. I don’t want to utter a word on this.”

Rawat said: “I would like to stay away from Champion because I don’t want to take a dip in the dirt in which he lives.”

Godiyal said he returned home after dinner, adding he saw “nothing wrong” in
Bhatt dancing.