Rudraprayag: In Uttarakhand, where the
campaigning is reaching a fever pitch for the January 30
Assembly elections, several politicians are facing the tag of
"outsider" due to the change in their constituencies post
delimitation.
BJP leader and Chief Minister B C Khanduri is one of the
main candidates who have been forced to leave their previous
constituency.
Khanduri, who is the face of the BJP campaign in this
election, had represented the Dhumakot constituency earlier.
But due to delimitation, a big portion of Dhumakot seat was
merged with Lansdown and he thought it wiser to shift to
Kotdwar.
While Khanduri is expected to win from the new
constituency, his arrival here was initially questioned by
supporters of sitting BJP MLA Shailendra Singh Rawat. However,
Rawat's picture now regularly features alongside Khanduri's in
his publicity material.
"People of the state have known my work as the Chief
Minister and I am confident of my victory," Khanduri told PTI
over phone.
His opponent and Leader of Opposition in the last
Assembly, Harak Singh Rawat of Congress, too, has been forced
to move from his Lansdown seat to contest from Rudraprayag
seat.
Rawat's arrival has led to two Congress rebels contesting
from the same seat. Also, BJP candidate Matbar Singh Kandari,
who happens to be his co-brother, is giving him a tough time.
Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of BJP,
too, does not have the luxury of contesting from the Thalisain
seat which he won time. Post delimitation that constituency is
a part of the Srinagar seat, and Nishank had to shift his base
to Doiwala in Dehradun district.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 23, 2012, 15:25