Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency

Bhagat Singh Koshyari (L) will once again lead BJP's charge from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar constituency. (Photo: Twitter/@BSKoshyari)

Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar is one of five parliamentary constituencies in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

The first phase of voting in five constituencies of Uttarakhand ended on April 11 with at least 66 per cent of the electorate exercising their franchise in Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency. The fate of seven candidates will be decided on May 23 when counting of votes takes place and the result is declared.

Altogether 58 per cent voters today exercised their franchise in the first phase of polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttarakhand. 

Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar constituency is made up of 14 assembly segments in two districts - Nainital and Udhamsingh Nagar. This constituency was formed in 2009.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP's Bhagat Singh Koshyari had decimated Congress' Karan Chand Singh Baba by over 2.84 lakh votes. The voter turnout figure was at 68.41 across 1957 polling stations here.

Five years before this, Baba had tasted win when he had defeated BJP's Bachi Singh Rawat who had moved to this constituency after Almora was declared as a reserved constituency. Baba would 'welcome' him with a thumping win by over 88,000 votes. The voter turnout figure was 58.69 per cent.

Both BJP and Congress this year would have to address issues of civic woes and job crisis in this constituency. Local media reports suggest there is resentment against both parties for having sidelined issues close to the heart of people and society. Koshyari takes on Congress' Ajay Bhatt in the Lok Sabha 2019 battle here.