By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 24 Dec: As the nomination process for the Dehradun Municipal Corporation approaches, both the BJP and Congress are facing a huge challenge in selecting their Mayoral candidates for Dehradun Municipal Corporation. Sources in the BJP admitted that Dehradun’s Nagar Nigam polls are a major issue for the party. At least in Dehradun, the voters have consistently favoured BJP in Nagar Nigam elections with the exception of 2003 and, therefore, the stakes are higher this time to maintain this track record.
Suresh Bhatt, head of the supervisory team for the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, revealed that more than 13 contenders are lobbying for the mayoral seat from the BJP. In the past, the BJP did not find it very challenging to finalise its candidate for the mayor seat in Dehradun, but this time, it is facing a tougher challenge.
It may be recalled that, before the state’s formation, Vinod Chamoli of BJP was the municipal chairman of Dehradun. However, after the upgradation of the Doon Municipal Council to the status of first and the only Municipal Corporation post the formation of Uttarakhand as a separate state, the mayoral seat was reserved for women which was won by Manorama Sharma of Congress. When the seat was unreserved in 2008, it was easy for the BJP to choose Vinod Chamoli as mayoral candidate not only because of his own popularity and rapport among voters of Dehradun but also because of his close proximity to the then Chief Minister, Maj Gen BC Khanduri (Retd) and again repeat him in 2013. In 2018, BJP’s Sunil Uniyal Gama also managed to secure the ticket since Chamoli had been elected as MLA from Dharampur, owing to his proximity to the then CM Trivendra Singh Rawat. However, on the ground level, Gama could not match the performance or the popularity of his predecessor Vinod Chamoli. This time, it may not that easy for him to get the party ticket though he remains one of the probables.
Among those who are lobbying hard in the BJP for mayoral ticket are Puneet Mittal and Siddharth Aggarwal, Neha Joshi, Digambar Singh Negi, Ravindra Jugran, Anil Goyal, Sunita Vidyarthi, Vinod Uniyal, Dhirendra Panwar, Kuldeep Butola and Saurabh Thapliyal. Interestingly, so far since the formation of Dehradun Municipal Corporation, the Mayor has always been a Brahmin though the Rajputs far outnumber the Brahim voters in the city particularly due to large scale migration from the hills. Sources also claim that this time, Siddharth Aggarwal and Puneet Mittal are being considered to be strong contenders for the ticket.
In Congress, some high profile names contested mayoral elections in Doon in the past including former Cabinet Minister Dinesh Aggarwal and SK Dhasmana but could not win. This time, Dinesh Aggarwal has joined the BJP while Dhasmana does not seem to be keen. The ticket aspirants this time include former Cabinet Minister Hira Singh Bist, Virendra Pokhriyal, Asha Manorama Sharma Dobariyal, and Naveen Joshi.
