Battles lines are being drawn in Uttarakhand with the ruling Congress finalising most of its candidates for the general elections despite severe infighting in the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had already declared its candidates for all the five Lok Sabha seats on March 15 for the May 7 election. The filing of nomination papers will begin on Saturday.
As the regional parties like Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) faced splits ahead of the election, it might virtually be a straight contest between the BJP and Congress candidates from most of the seats, even though the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has also fielded its candidates. Some of AAP's candidates such as Anoop Nautiyal from Tehri and former DGP Kanchan Chowdhary Bhattacharya from Haridwar have made their presence felt through active campaign especially through the social media.
With the BJP fielding its bigwigs in the election arena, the ruling party has also accepted the challenge by finalising the name of state agriculture minister Harak Singh Rawat from Pauri seat to face former chief minister B C Khanduri (BJP).
From Tehri, the Congress is again betting on Saket, son of former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. The BJP has reposed faith in its sitting MP Maharani Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah from this constituency where she had earlier defeated Saket in the 2012 byelection. Saket's name was finalised after his father declined to contest from Tehri despite the insistence of the high command.
However, the Congress will shortly finalise the name of its candidate from Haridwar to take on yet another BJP big leader and former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Renuka, wife of Chief Minister Harish Rawat, is still the front runner from the seat. "There is a possibility some big national leader can also contest from Haridwar," said a senior Congress leader.
The Congress had announced its first list last week where its candidates and sitting MPs Pradip Tamta and K C Singh Baba will be contesting from Almora and Nainital seats respectively. While Tamta will be facing BJP's MLA Ajay Tamta from Almora, Baba will take on BJP's top gun and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari from Nainital.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had already declared its candidates for all the five Lok Sabha seats on March 15 for the May 7 election. The filing of nomination papers will begin on Saturday.
As the regional parties like Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) faced splits ahead of the election, it might virtually be a straight contest between the BJP and Congress candidates from most of the seats, even though the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has also fielded its candidates. Some of AAP's candidates such as Anoop Nautiyal from Tehri and former DGP Kanchan Chowdhary Bhattacharya from Haridwar have made their presence felt through active campaign especially through the social media.
With the BJP fielding its bigwigs in the election arena, the ruling party has also accepted the challenge by finalising the name of state agriculture minister Harak Singh Rawat from Pauri seat to face former chief minister B C Khanduri (BJP).
From Tehri, the Congress is again betting on Saket, son of former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna. The BJP has reposed faith in its sitting MP Maharani Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah from this constituency where she had earlier defeated Saket in the 2012 byelection. Saket's name was finalised after his father declined to contest from Tehri despite the insistence of the high command.
However, the Congress will shortly finalise the name of its candidate from Haridwar to take on yet another BJP big leader and former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Renuka, wife of Chief Minister Harish Rawat, is still the front runner from the seat. "There is a possibility some big national leader can also contest from Haridwar," said a senior Congress leader.
The Congress had announced its first list last week where its candidates and sitting MPs Pradip Tamta and K C Singh Baba will be contesting from Almora and Nainital seats respectively. While Tamta will be facing BJP's MLA Ajay Tamta from Almora, Baba will take on BJP's top gun and former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari from Nainital.
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