Uttarakhand / Dehradun : Election Commission notice to two Congress ticket contenders Surya Kant Dhasmana and Abhinav Thapar

The Election Commission has sent notices to Surya Kant Dhasmana and Abhinav Thapar, two contenders for Congress ticket from Cantt seat, in violation of the model code of conduct. Both the contenders have given advertisements in the newspapers after the code of conduct came into force. The Cantt seat of Dehradun has always been special for BJP and Congress. In the past and even today. Special for the BJP because the late Harbans Kapoor played eight invincible innings in the Cantt seat, while many Congress veterans tried their luck, but failed. After the death of Harbans Kapoor, possibly the ticket contenders from Congress are taking this seat as easy. This is the reason that even before getting the ticket, some claimants have started raining money through newspapers to confirm their claim. Among them, Vaibhav Walia, Suryakant Dhasmana and Abhinav Thapar are prominent.

While other contenders, the party’s Dehradun Metropolitan President Lal Chand Sharma and Naveen Joshi have not yet opened the mouth of their “treasury”. Dhasmana is an old Congressman and is close to All India Congress Committee General Secretary Venugopal and former PCC President and Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Pritam Singh, hence making a strong claim of ticket. Dhasmana is most active in the Cantt Vidhansabha for the last several years. He also got the 2017 ticket, but he could not register a win. Vaibhav Walia is the National Secretary of Youth Congress and is said to be close to Rahul Gandhi. Walia’s father Ramkumar Walia was earlier in Congress, now in BJP. Abhinav Thapar is displaced from Tehri and is a candidate for ticket from Cantt for the first time.