Uttarakhand Elections 2022: From Pushkar Dhami to Harish Rawat, key candidates to watch out for
Uttarakhand is set to vote tomorrow in a single phase with over 600 candidates ready to lock horns for the 70 Assembly constituencies in the state. The hill state has traditionally witnessed a two-way contest between the BJP and the Congress. However, the entry of Aam Aadmi Party in the game this time is likely to dent the vote share of the two parties.
Pre-poll surveys have predicted a close contest between the BJP and the Congress with the former having an edge over the latter. Here is a list of key candidates who will be watched out for in the Uttarakhand polls:
Pushkar Singh Dhami
The incumbent chief minister is contesting from Khatima constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district, which is seen as his bastion. He took over the reigns in his hands from Tirath Singh Rawat in July last year, becoming the youngest chief minister of the hill state.
The Congress has fielded Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from the seat to take on the chief minister. Dhami won from Khatima in 2012 and 2017. In 2017, he defeated Kapri by a margin of 2,709 votes.
Harish Rawat
Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat is contesting from Lalkuwa seat. A five-time MP, Rawat served as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2014 to 2017. He had also held the position of Union Minister of Water Resources in the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from 2012 to 2014. Several pre-poll surveys have projected Rawat as the most popular CM face in the state.
This time, Rawat faces challenge from BJP candidate Mohan Singh Bisht and Aam Aadmi Party’s Chandrashekhar Pandey.
Yashpal Arya
A former minister and Congress leader, Yashpal Arya is a prominent Dalit face in the Kumaon region of the hill state and is contesting these elections from Bajpur seat. A four-time MLA, Yashpal Arya has served as a cabinet minister in the Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat governments from 2012 to 2017. He faces a direct challenge from BJP’s Rajesh Kumar.
Col Ajay Kothiyal (Retd)
Making its debut in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls, the AAP has projected Kothiyal as its CM face in the state. Congress’ Vijaypal Singh Sajwan and BJP’s Suresh Chauhan will lock horns with Kothiyal on Gangotri seat.
Dhan Singh Negi
Negi is contesting the elections from the Tehri seat on Congress ticket. In 2017, he won the polls from the same seat on a BJP ticket but made a ‘ghar wapasi’ to the Grand Old Party in January this year.
He will be contesting against expelled Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay, who joined the BJP on the day when Negi switched to the Congress.
Satpal Maharaj
Chaubattakhal, a high-profile constituency in Pauri Garhwal, is expected to witness a stiff fight between tourism minister Satpal Maharaj and Congress nominee Keshar Singh. Maharaj’s political journey began from the Congress but later switched to the BJP.
In 2017, he contested the elections from Chaubattakhal Assembly on a BJP ticket and won, after which he was made a Cabinet Minister in the BJP government of the state.
Apart from the above-mentioned candidates, state assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal from Rishikesh, BJP state president Haridwar, Anukriti Gusain Rawat of Congress from Lansdowne. Other Cabinet ministers contesting the polls include Subodh Uniyal from Narendra Nagar, Ganesh Joshi from Mussoorie and Swami Yatishwaranand from Haridwar (Rural).