6 candidates in fray after last date of withdrawal of nominations in Kedarnath
By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 4 Nov: The Returning Officer of Kedarnath Assembly Bypoll, Anil Kumar Shukla, informed the media that no candidates withdrew their name today, the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the byelection. As a result, all six candidates who had filed their nominations now remain in the election fray. BJP’s Asha Nautiyal and Congress’s Manoj Rawat are the major candidates. Both of them have in the past represented Kedarnath and are, hence, considered strong candidates from their respective parties.
Both, BJP and Congress can heave a sigh of relief that they have managed to prevent ticket contenders from their parties from turning rebel. Of course, there were more serious contenders for the ticket from Kedarnath and it still managed to convince them not to turn rebels. Until the BJP announced its candidate, many potential candidates were seriously lobbying for the tickets, with Kuldeep Rawat and Aishwarya Rawat openly pressing their claims. The Kedarnath by-election has become a matter of prestige for the BJP, which has lost the Manglaur and Badrinath by-elections. Political analysts were curious to see how the BJP would handle the possible situation of the ticket contenders.
The BJP skilfully convinced two claimants, Aishwarya Rawat and Kuldeep Rawat to step aside and fielded a third leader in the form of Asha Nautiyal. By giving the ticket to Asha Nautiyal, the BJP high command made it clear that there is no place for rebellion in their party. Fortunately for the BJP, after the announcement of the ticket, no one expressed dissatisfaction nor tried to contest the election as an independent or from another party, in sharp contrast to the Congress, whose leaders failing to get the ticket have openly expressed their resentment.
Although the BJP did not give the ticket to Aishwarya Rawat, who is daughter of the late MLA Shaila Rani Rawat, the party managed to convince her not to turn rebel. It is being claimed that the party has promised Aishwarya Rawat a significant post in the party. Earlier, she had purchased the nomination form and posted this information on her social media account but finally did not file it. She also deleted her post regarding purchase of nomination form.
Amidst the rumblings of rebellion, the BJP leadership put in all its strength from the organisation to the government level to manage the situation. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took charge of the front. Along with him, state president Mahendra Bhatt, Garhwal MP Anil Baluni, and senior BJP leader and former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank were successful in controlling possible damage before it happened.
On the other hand, Congress also did not face any open rebellion, but it is facing lot of resentment from the contenders for the ticket. These include former Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat and Sheeshpal Singh Bisht.
