Yashpal Arya is a 7-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh (twice) and Uttarakhand (five times) combined. He is a former Minister of Transportation, Social Welfare, Minority and Students' Welfare in the Government of Uttarakhand under Bharatiya Janata Party's rule. He is currently the 7th Leader of the opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. Currently, he is an Indian National Congress leader and member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. He is a former Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly under Indian National Congress' rule. He was elected from Mukteshwar constituency in the 2007 Uttarakhand state assembly elections.
He was the President of the Congress Party's Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (Uttarakhand PCC) from 2007 through 2014. He was elected from Bajpur Assembly constituency in 2012 and was being thought to be one of the frontrunners for the chief ministerial candidature until the Congress high command chose Vijay Bahuguna, son of former Uttar Pradesh CM late Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, for the post.
On 16 January 2017, Arya joined the Bharatiya Janata Party where he served as the Cabinet Minister of Transportation, Social Welfare, Minority and Students' Welfare, Government of Uttarakhand from 18 March 2017 to 11 October 2021 in the Trivendra Singh Rawat's, Tirath Singh Rawat's and Pushkar Singh Dhami's first cabinet.
On 11 October 2021, Arya along with his son Sanjiv Arya (MLA, Nainital) returned to Congress. In the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly Elections, he won the Bajpur seat again but this time as an INC candidate, after which he was appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.
Positions held Year Description 1984 - 1989 Gram Pradhan - Chhalayal Suyal Gram Panchayat, Haldwani 1989 - 1991 Elected to 10th Uttar Pradesh Assembly 1993 - 1996 Elected to 12th Uttar Pradesh Assembly (2nd term) 2002 - 2007 Elected to 1st Uttarakhand Assembly (3rd term) Speaker - Uttaranchal Legislative Assembly 2007 - 2012 Elected to 2nd Uttarakhand Assembly (4th term) Member, Committee on Government Assurances (2009 – 12) Member, Committee on Housing (2010 – 12) 2012 - 2017 Elected to 3rd Uttarakhand Assembly (5th term) Cabinet Minister for Revenue and Land Management, Irrigation, Flood Control,Co-operatives, Technical Education, Rural Engineering Services,Rural Roads and Drainage, Indo-Nepal-Uttarakhand River Projects 2017 - 2022 Elected to 4th Uttarakhand Assembly (6th term) Cabinet Minister for Transportation, Social Welfare, Minority Welfare,Students Welfare, Rural Water Reservoirs Development, Remote Areas Development,Sub-Divisional Development and Management, Backward Areas Development 2022 - Till Date Elected to 5th Uttarakhand Assembly (7th term) Leader of Opposition - Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
Within Party Year Description1979 - 1983Block President, Nainital Youth Congress1983 - 1984District General Secretary, Nainital Youth Congress1984 - 1989District President, Nainital Youth Congress1996 - 2000President, Udham Singh Nagar District Congress Committee2007 - 2014President, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee
Electoral performance
YearElectionPartyConstituency NameResultVotes gainedVote share%MarginRef198910th UP AssemblyINC Khatima38,78540.42%14,793199111th UP Assembly29,21132.11%1,755199312th UP Assembly49,48742.01%8,787199613th UP Assembly AIIC(T) 35,12021.46%21,32920021st Uttarakhand AssemblyINC Mukteshwar13,53137.70%1,42420072nd Uttarakhand Assembly26,80158.24%10,98420123rd Uttarakhand AssemblyBajpur 38524 45.94% 15,131 20174th Uttarakhand Assembly BJP 54,965 53.22% 12,636 20225th Uttarakhand Assembly INC 40,252 36.76% 1,611
References
https://www.newstodaynetwork.com/haldwani-social-welfare-minister-arya-can-contest-in-the-lok-sabha-election-such-a-benefit/