By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 17 Jun: As had been indicated several days ago by Garhwal Post, Congress has declared Qazi Nizamuddin as its candidate from Manglaur assembly constituency and Lakhpat Butola as its candidate from Badrinath Assembly constituency. Some media reports were suggesting that Harak Singh Rawat could also be declared as the party candidate from Badrinath, but it was misleading information as his name was never under consideration, particularly after he had already indicated to the party that he was not interested.
Today, after approval by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal released a list of 4 candidates, two of them for the by-polls in Uttarakhand and the remaining two for the by-polls in Himachal Pradesh (Hamirpur and Nalagarh). While it was clear from the very beginning that Qazi Nizamuddin will be the party candidate from Manglaur Assembly constituency as he is a three- time former MLA from the same constituency, and also holds the post of National Secretary in the Congress (AICC). He, therefore, has considerable influence within the party. The Congress considered two other names besides Butola for the Badrinath assembly constituency. The names considered were of Prakash Rawat and Nareshanand Nautiyal. However, as indicated by Garhwal Post in its earlier report, Butola was leading the race.
Earlier, Congress MLA and senior party leader Vikram Singh Negi, who had been made the party observer for Badrinath constituency had finalised a list of possible party candidates and this was submitted to the Party High Command through the PCC and the leader in charge of party affairs in Uttarakhand, Kumari Selja. The names were Lakhpat Singh Butola, Prakash Rawat and Nareshanand Nautiyal. Sources claimed that of the names which were considered for this seat, it was felt that Butola is in the best position to give a strong fight to the outgoing MLA and the BJP candidate Rajendra Singh Bhandari. Bhandari had won this seat in 2022 general assembly elections as a Congress candidate and in the past, once he had won the seat in 2012 as an independent candidate (as a Congress rebel). He then lent his support to the BC Khanduri led BJP Government and in return was inducted as a cabinet minister. In 2017, he joined Congress but lost the election to Mahendra Bhatt of BJP who is now the state party president and a Rajya Sabha MP.
While Qazi Nizamuddin is up against BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana and Ubedur Rehman of BSP in Manglaur, Butola is up against Rajendra Bhandari of BJP in Badrinath. Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has also declared Bachhi Ram Uniyal as its candidate from Badrinath seat. The fight is expected to be triangular one in Manglaur as it had been won by BSP’s Sarvat Karim Ansari against Nizamuddin in 2022 but had fallen vacant due to death of Ansari. BSP in order to gain sympathy has declared the son of the former MLA Sarvat Karim Ansari, Ubedur Rehman as its candidate. BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana is considered as an outsider from Haryana but also has never been in the BJP before and therefore the challenge for him remains the biggest one. Particularly in view of the fact that BJP has never won this seat ever since the formation of the state.
As far as Badrinath is considered, despite the fact that Bhandari has switched loyalty from Congress to BJP now, he is considered a formidable candidate with a lot of personal influence in the constituency. He has also managed to get his wife elected as Zila Panchayat President.
Congress state spokesperson Sheeshpal Bisht claimed that the party is serious about the by-elections to be held in both the assemblies and will contest both with the aim to win handsomely.
