New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) The ruling Congress in poll-bound Uttarakhand suffered a setback today, when two of its senior leaders- Yashpal Arya and Kedar Singh Rawat- joined the BJP here. Mr Arya joined the party in presence of BJP president Amit Shah. He was the former president of Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and elected from Bajpur Assembly constituency in 2012. Yesterday, BJP CEC meeting was held for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Shah. The first list of candidates for both the states is expected to be announced soon. On January 4, the poll panel announced that the elections in five states- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will be held from February 4 to March 8, while the counting of votes in all poll-bound states will take place on March 11. UNI NY-RBE SV RJ 1316