Campaigning ends in Kedarnath assembly bypoll. Congress leaders campaigned extensively. Claims their sure sort victory
SUNIL NEGI
The campaigning in Kedarnath By-election has come to halt today and the hectic campaigning by three parties viz ruling BJP, Congress and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has also ended. Today being the last day of campaigning the leaders of all the parties in the fray did their extreme best to utilise the last day to the fullest to convince the voters.
The Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has campaigned in Kedarnath extensively and had even held a high profile meeting with top bureaucrats of Uttarakhand discussing threadbare the Concrete land act issue and made an announcement that the government is implementing it immediately.
Opposition leaders say that this was the ploy to impress the voters of Kedarnath By-election as the saffron party is on the defensive mode and is apprehensive of losing this seat.
It may be recalled that when the ruling BJP lost from Badrinath seat last time in the by poll the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the Party chief Mahendra Bhatt, RS MP has to draw a sorry posture in front of the central high command especially because prime minister Narendra Modi has visited Kedarnath five times a year ago and had boasted tremendously of allocating several hundred crores for the renovation, upgradation and modernisation of Kedarnath and Badrinath complex including improving the roads network.
Moreover, the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya issue also backfired with Hindu polarisation symptoms literally disappearing.
There are reports that the Kedarnath by poll this time is the prestige issue of Uttarakhand CM and he is in no mood to lose it come what may.
If Badrinath is repeated this time the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ” GADDI” will also be in doldrums as the results of by polls are the parameters of the ongoing political trend in the state.
On the other hand the opposition Congress leaders who were earlier divided into various factions seems to have come together to give a decisive fight to saffron party from Kedarnath.
It may be recalled that a special meeting was convened by the chief observer cum in-charge of Uttarakhand Congress Kumari Shelja in Delhi prior to the finalisation of the candidates from Kedarnath assembly segment.
She had catagorically issued instructions to all the leaders to show unity of strength and give up the factionalism which is harming the party prospects badly in Uttarakhand.
She had issued standing instructions to give up their political differences and unite to ensure party candidate’s defeat in Kedarnath assembly elections.
Today being the last day of the campaigning the Congress leaders of Uttarakhand representing various factions viz. Harish Rawat, Pritam Singh, State chief Karan Mahara, Ganesh Godiyal , Yashpal Arya, Dr. Harak Singh Rawat and Prem Bahukhandi held padyatras, corner and public meetings and established door to door contacts with the Congress leaders in Kedarnath assembly constituency acknowledging tremendous support and rousing welcome by the electorates.
The Congress has fielded its former MLA from this constituency namely Manoj Rawat where as the BJP has given ticket to Asha Nautiyal, who had also been the MLA from here. She is currently the chief of the Uttarakhand Mahila Morcha. The regional political Party Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has fielded Mr. Bhandari from this seat. BJP’s Asha Nautiyal is considered quite weak a candidate as she didn’t spoke a work on Ankita Bhandari issue herself being a woman and also kept quite on various issues of people interest when the people needed her the most during critical times.
