Uttarakhand polls: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to file nomination papers from Khatima today

The BJP has released a list of nine candidates for Uttarakhand Assembly elections and fielded former chief minister BC Khanduri`s daughter and wife of current Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Reetu Bhushan Khanduri, from Kotdwar.

Image courtesy: ANI

Khatima: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will file nomination papers from the Khatima Assembly constituency today (January 27). Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "I will file nomination papers from Khatima Assembly constituency tomorrow."

Earlier on Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of nine candidates for Uttarakhand Assembly elections and fielded former chief minister BC Khanduri`s daughter and wife of current Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Reetu Bhushan Khanduri, from Kotdwar. She is currently an MLA from Yamkeshwar. 

The list of candidates along with their assembly constituencies includes Shaila Rani Rawat (Kedarnath), Rajpal Singh (Jhabrera SC), Muneesh Saini (Piran Kaliyar), Reetu Bhushan Khanduri (Kotdwar), Pramod Nainwal (Ranikhet), Mohan Singh Mehra (Jageshwar), Mohan Singh Bisht (Lalkuwa), Jogendrapal Singh Routela (Haldwani) and Shiv Arora (Rudrapur).

With this list, the BJP has so far announced candidates for a total of 68 seats in the first phase, 59 in the second phase, while there are 2 seats on which the names of the candidates are yet to be announced for the upcoming assembly polls.

The party has released the names of 59 candidates in its first list, which includes the names of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to State President Madan Kaushik Banshidhar Bhagat and other ministers.

Former Congress Uttarakhand chief Kishore Upadhyaya likely to join BJP

Ahead of February 14 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, former Congress state chief Kishore Upadhyaya is likely to join BJP on Thursday, sources in the BJP told ANI. Upadhyaya may contest the Assembly polls from the Tehri constituency.

Earlier, Congress released its third list of candidates for the polls which did not mention the name of Upadhyaya. This further increased the speculation of Kishore Upadhyaya joining the BJP.

Sources close to Upadhyay told ANI that he wanted the revocation of suspension from all party posts. He had conveyed this to Congress leadership too. Upadhyay was recently removed from all the party posts recently as a Disciplinary Action. 

In a major turn of events in the state weeks ahead of the elections, Congress changed the seat of former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Singh Rawat who will now contest the election from Lalkuwa, instead of Ramnagar.

Interestingly, Congress has given the ticket to the daughter of Harish Rawat, Anupama Rawat from Hardwar Rural constituency defying its own policy of `one seat, one family`.

Polls to elect the 70-member state legislative assembly are scheduled to be held on February 14, while the counting of the votes will take place on March 10. 

(With Agency Inputs)