Uttarakhand flood: Bihar BJP leader rescued

Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwani Choubey and his family, who were stranded in a temple in Kedarnath, have been rescued and brought to Dehradun by a helicopter on Thursday.

While Choubey, his wife, two sons and their families have been rescued, his two relatives, a body guard and personal assistant are missing and are feared to have lost their lives in the flash flood and rains in Uttarakhand, BJP spokesman of Bhagalpur Dev Kumar Pandey said.

Choubey is a legislator from Bhagalpur and was the health minister in the Nitish Kumar government before he was sacked along with 10 other BJP ministers as part of JD-U severing ties with BJP.

The MLA along with 14 others -- including a local priest, three body guards and relatives -- had gone to Kedarnath to perform 'pind daan' of his parents.

They were staying in a rest house near Kedarnath temple when heavy rains triggered landslides on Tuesday night. Choubey and others managed to take shelter in the temple from where they were airlifted to Guptkashi by a state government helicopter.

Pandey said Bhagalpur MP Shahnawaz Hussain and BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad were constantly in touch with Uttarakhand government and officials for the safety of Choubey and his family.

Choubey and the others are expected to reach Delhi on way to Bhagalpur in a day or two, he said.