Rawat locks horns with Bahuguna for RS seat

The election will be held on November 20 for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Uttarakhand

For the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has virtually locked horns with his rival and former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna.

With the Election Commission announcing poll schedule for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Uttarakhand, the election will be held on November 20, the political maneuver has intensified between the two leaders over who will get the ticket to the Upper House.

Bahuguna, an MLA from Sitarganj constituency, had been meeting top Congress leaders in New Delhi to lobby for the seat which fell vacant after the resignation of BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who got elected from the Nainital Lok Sabha seat.

On Wednesday, Bahuguna met party President Sonia Gandhi to lay his claim over the seat. He also favoured a cabinet rejig for his supporters to get ministerial berths.

Hours later, Rawat met Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to convince him that Bahuguna should not be allowed to vacate his Sitarganj seat as the party is still one seat short of the majority in the state Assembly.

Bahuguna expressed displeasure over the functioning of the state government. "Basically Bahuguna wants a Rajya Sabha berth for himself for which he can go to any length," said a Congress leader. Bahuguna was not available for comments.