In 2000, he was unanimously elected as President of Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC),[REF] and remained so until he was replaced by Yashpal Arya.
In the 2009 general election, he left his traditional stronghold of Almora after it became a reserved seat post delimitation to contest from Haridwar, and won the election with over 3.3 Lakh of votes [REF].