Round of meetings continue regarding Congress candidates, trouble stuck on two seats of Uttarakhand
A round of meetings is going on in Congress regarding candidates for Haridwar and Nainital seats. In the screening committee meeting with National General Secretary Organization KC Venugopal in New Delhi on Wednesday, the candidates for both the seats were brainstormed. But the names of the candidates are yet to be decided.
Yesterday, two seats of Uttarakhand could not be discussed in the Central Election Committee meeting. National General Secretary Organization KC Venugopal held a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday regarding the candidates for Haridwar and Nainital seats. In which screening committee chairman Bhagat Charan Das, state in-charge Shailja Kumari, leader of opposition Yashpal Arya, state president Karan Mahara were present.
The candidates were discussed in detail in the meeting. Congress State President Karan Mahara said that continuous brainstorming is going on on the names of possible contenders for both the seats. After which the party high command will declare the candidate.
Ganesh Godiyal staked on Garhwal seat
After intensive consultation in the Central Election Committee meeting, Congress had announced candidates for three out of five seats in Uttarakhand. Congress has placed its bet on Garhwal seat on two-time MLA and former state president Ganesh Godiyal.
Whereas the party gave ticket to Jot Singh Gunsola, who was elected MLA from Mussoorie assembly seat in 2002 and 2007. The challenge before him is to break the magic of monarchy on this seat. This time also the bet has been placed on Pradeep Tamta on the reserved Almora seat. Tamta MP was elected from this seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Whereas he lost in the elections of 2014 and 2019.
Congress is lagging behind in campaigning
Compared to BJP, Congress is lagging behind in campaigning. BJP candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat has taken charge of the campaign from Haridwar parliamentary seat. On the other hand, Anil Baluni has also started campaigning for Garhwal parliamentary seat, but there is no consensus in Congress regarding the names of candidates for Haridwar and Nainital seats.
Mutual conflict due to many claimants
Due to mutual tussle, the Central Election Committee has kept the tickets on both the seats waiting. Former CM Harish Rawat is seeking ticket for his son Virendra Rawat from Haridwar seat, while Congress State President Karan Mahara is adamant on whether Harish Rawat himself should contest elections from here or he should be given a chance. There is a mutual tussle going on because there are many contenders for the Nainital seat.
From here the names of Yashpal Arya, Bhuvan Kapri, Mahendra Pal, Ranjit Rawat, Prakash Joshi are being discussed. Among these names, there is almost consensus on the name of Yashpal Arya, but Arya is said to be not interested in contesting the elections. However, a large section in the party is considering Arya as a strong candidate as per the caste equation of Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat.
