Uttarakhand elections: Congress releases 2nd list ; Harish Rawat to contest from Ramnagar

Two days after releasing the first list, Congress on Monday has released the second list of 11 candidates for the Uttarakhand Assembly Elections. As per the list, former Chief Minister, and Congress' campaign in-charge for the elections Harish Rawat will contest from Ramnagar. The 73-year-old had pitched to fight from the constituency, which happens to be his paternal place, and got the approval of the party in the Central Election Committee meeting. 

The development comes a day after Uttarakhand CM, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pushkar Singh Dhami claimed that Rawat may not contest for Uttarakhand elections. Talking to ANI, Dhami claimed that Rawat is distancing himself from the polls and hence was not listed as one of the candidates.

"Harish Rawat Ji may himself not contest polls, hence he has not included his name in the list of candidates. We have prepared well and will win over 60 seats," Dhami had said. 

Congress releases list of Candidates for Uttarakhand

Besides Rawat, the list comprises names of Suryakant Dhasmana (Dehradun Cantt), Mohit Uniyal (Doiwala), Jayenmdra Chand Ramola (Rishikesh) Barkha Rani (Jwalapur-SC), Virendra Kumar Jati (Jhabrera-SC), Subhasg Choudhary (Khanpur), Dr Antriksh Saini (Laksar) Anukriti Gusain Rawat (Landdowne), Sandhya Dalakoti (lalkuwa), Mahendra Pal Singh (Kaladhungi). 

Uttarakhand elections 

As per the election schedule announced by the Election Commission of India on January 8, the state will go to the polls on February 14, whereas the counting of votes shall take place on March 10. In view of the COVID-19 situation, all physical rallies and roadshows have been banned until January 31 and the polling time has been increased by 1 hour. 

As per the Republic-P Marq Opinion Poll, the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami-led BJP is likely to retain power with the party projected to win 36-42 seats in the 70-member Assembly. On the other hand, Congress is likely to see major gains too with 25-31 seats. While debutant AAP can win 0-2 seats, the other parties and independents are likely to win 1-3 seats.