Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats in the upcoming polls.
Ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly elections, scheduled for February 15, the Congress has released a list of 63 candidates including incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who will contest from two seats. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's central election committee, chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi on January 21.
State ministers Indira Hridyesh, Surendra Singh and Dinesh Aggarwal will contest from Haldwani, Kotdwar and Dharampur constituencies respectively. Other Congress leaders included in the list are Mantri Prasad Naihani, Harish Chandra Durgapal and Goving Singh Kunjwal who have been respectively fielded from Deoprayag, Lalkuwa and Jageshwar.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has been fielded from Kiccha and Haridwar Rural constituencies.
The Uttarakhand polls will be a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. According to news agency PTI, both parties are seeking a mandate on the agenda of development. Chief Minister Harish Rawat will also that the BJP-led Centre had dismissed the Congress-led state government till it was restored by the judiciary. The Congress has also roped in
political strategist Prashant Kishor, whom Mr Rawat described as
'Chyawanprash', for the Uttarakhand polls.
"Kishor is like
Chyawanprash... People resort to such tonics as they age," MR Rawat was quoted, by PTI, as saying.
Many senior Congress leaders from the state, including former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, resigned from the party to join the BJP. However, the BJP's decision to field these ex-Congressmen from various constituencies has led to
resentment among the senior BJP leaders from the state including Om Gopal Rawat, Asha Nautiyal and Shailendra Singh Rawat.
(with inputs from PTI)