Dissent in BJP,Khanduri faces tough test

Negi,who has won four elections in the past,has managed to mobilise enormous local support. The social composition of the constituency works to his advantage.

On the other hand,Khanduri has two internal factors working against him. His candidature had initially met with resistance from the sitting BJP MLA,Shailendra Singh Rawat,who was denied a ticket to accommodate the CM. His supporters staged a protest demonstration after the list of BJP candidates was announced. Khanduri moved over to Kotdwar after his Dhumakot constituency was lost due to delimitation. The bulk of area from Dhumakot has been merged in the Lansdown constituency.

Even as the party had succeeded in persuading Rawat to fall in line,he had done so only grudgingly. Currently,Rawat is publicly seen working for Khanduri,but it is doubtful if his supporters would sincerely help Khanduri win.

A section of the state BJP,unhappy over the removal of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as the chief minister by the party leadership,is also suspected of having a secret understanding with Negi. This,according to the sources,provided a boost to Negis poll campaign.

There is no Congress public meeting where Nishank does not come under an attack for the scams which marked his rule. However,the Congress has made it easier for him on the ground by fielding a candidate against him who was interested in another constituency.

Former minister Hira Singh Bisht had nursed the Rajpur seat in Dehradun district,but Lok Sabha member Vijay Bahuguna managed to edge him out to the Doiwala constituency to facilitate the candidature of his close aide Umesh Sharma. In the process,Leader of the Opposition in the assembly Harak Singh Rawat,who was an aspirant for a ticket from Doiwala,was pushed to the Rudraprayag seat,where he is pitted against BJP veteran leader Matbar Singh Kandari.

The BJP had tried to beat the anti-incumbency factor by denying tickets to 12 of its 36 sitting MLAs. Besides,the ruling party overlooked the claims of several former MLAs. Some of them have retaliated by jumping in to the fray either as independents or as candidates of other parties.

BJPs prospects have suffered in Badrinath due to a revolt by former MLA Kedar Singh Fonia. He is in the fray as a nominee of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha,a party floated by T P S Rawat,leader of ex-service men.

Nishank-loyalist Anil Nautiyal,a sitting MLA,has made the going tough for BJP candidate Harish Pujari in the Karnprayag constituency. Nautiyal had won the elections twice. In the Tharali reserved constituency in Chamoli district,sitting MLA Govind Lal Shah is in the fray to undermine the prospects of official nominee Magan Lal Saha. Sitting BJP MLA Raj Kumar is a rebel candidate in the Purola reserved seat.

As many as 32 Congress rebels are contesting against official nominees. Polling is on January 30.