By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 30 Dec: With the mayoral candidates for all 11 Municipal Corporations announced and nominations filed, the battle lines are drawn primarily between the BJP and the Congress across the state. In Dehradun, the contest is set between Saurabh Thapliyal (BJP) and Virendra Pokhriyal (Congress). in Rishikesh it will be between Shambhu Paswan of BJP and Deepak Jatav of Congress; In Haridwar it will be between Kiran Jaisal and Amaresh Baliyan of Congress (there is strong opposition within the Congress to his candidature); in Kotdwar the fight will be between former MLA Shailendra Rawat of BJP and Ranjana Rawat of Congress; in Roorkee, the fight is between Anita Aggarwal of BJP and Pooja Gupta of Congress; in Haldwani, the battle is between Gajraj Singh Bisht of BJP who is considered to be close to CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and Lalit Joshi of Congress; in Rudrapur it is between Vikas Sharma of BJP and Mohan Khera of Congress. Here rebel BJP leader and former MLA Rajkumar Thukral has also filed nomination as an independent, thus making the battle more interesting. In Kashipur, the battle is mainly between Deepak Bali of BJP and Sandeep Sehgal of Congress, with Bali being a recent entrant to the BJP from AAP. In Pithoragarh, the fight is expected to be between Kalpana Deval of BJP and Anju Lunthi of Congress. In Pithoragarh, the Congress Vice President and a very senior party leader Mathura Dutt Joshi was seeking a ticket for his wife since this is a Women reserved constituency but the last time MLA candidate from Congress, Anju Lunthi, was preferred. Joshi has shared his disappointment with the media openly. He reminded that he has been active in Congress for past 48 years and despite being a committed and loyal Congress leader, his demand has been continuously ignored by the party. Mathura Dutt Joshi is one of the hard-working members of Congress, and this situation has increased the challenge of damage control for the Congress organisation.
On the other hand, a close fight is on the cards in most Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. In smaller municipalities, such as Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats, the battle is more personal, with individual rapport expected to outweigh party affiliations. Rebel candidates are also in the fray for various ward seats and Chairperson positions, further intensifying the contests.
