By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 12 Mar: Independent MLA from Khanpur, Umesh Kumar’s meeting today with Kumari Selja, the Congress leader in charge of party affairs in Uttarakhand, today, has given rise to speculation in political circles that Kumar may soon join the Congress.
As per the speculation that was rife in Dehradun, today, Kumar is lobbying for the Congress ticket for Parliamentary election from Haridwar, the sole seat in the state from where many senior Congress leaders have laid their claims to the party ticket. These include Harish Rawat, Harak Singh Rawat and Anand Singh Rawat in addition to some local party leaders from Haridwar.
Sources claimed that Kumar had an hour-long meeting with Selja in New Delhi, today. He has promised that all his supporters will join the Congress in case he is given the party ticket from Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency. So far, the Congress party has maintained suspense over the party candidate from Haridwar and also whether it is willing to give the seat to its alliance partner SP. It may further be recalled that Umesh Kumar has been planning to contest elections from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat for a long time and he had declared this intention publicly. Umesh Kumar had defeated senior BJP leader and four-time MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion’s wife Devyani Singh by a huge margin from Khanpur assembly seat.
