With few days left for polling in the Karnprayag Vidhan Sabha constituency election slated for March 9, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party are putting in all effort to elicit support of the voters with door to door campaigning in this Assembly constituency situated in Chamoli district. Polling in this constituency had been postponed by the Election Commission after the death of the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Kuldeep Singh Kanwasi in a road accident on February 12. Among others, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has also been canvassing for the Congress candidate and sitting MlA Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri during the past two days eliciting votes for the party.
Apart from the wife of the deceased’s wife Jyoti Kanwasi contesting as the BSP mcandidate, Surendra Singh Negi of the BJP, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal candidate Balwant Singh Negi, Communist Party of India (Marxist leninist) candidate Indresh Maikhuri and four independent candidate Anadmani Dutt Joshi, Mohan Singh Negi, Bhagat Singh Negi and Padam Singh are contesting for the Karnprayag assembly seat. Only a couple of days left for conducting election campaign, all the candidates here appear to be making attempts to polarise the voters in their favour. State Chief Minister Harish Rawat has participated in door to door convassing seeking support for the Congress candidate during the past two days. Though the Congress leaders state that they are expecting a comfortable victory for their candidate, observers point out that the BJP candidate is giving a tough fight to the Congress with top leaders of the BJP state unit also campaigning in the constituency for their party candidate Surendra Singh Negi.
Of the three assembly constituencies in Chamoli district, polling was held in the Badrinath and Tharali assembly constituencies along with the other 67 other assembly constituencies in the state on February 15. Political analysts point out that the Congress party had won all the three assembly seats in Chamoli district in the 2012 assembly general election. The Congress party efforts is focused on retaining the seats while the BJP is trying hard to break the Congress dominance post 2012 assembly polls. Though the BJP and Congress candidates might appear to be the main contenders, the seven other candidates contesting for the Karnprayag assembly constituency may change the equation of the result. The common voters in this Vidhan Sabha constituency are preferring to remain silent instead of openly expressing their political views. However, observers aver that the people here are not pleased with promises of the ruling party. The women and youth voters along with service voters are being considered to be among those who may play a decisive role in ascertaining the result of election in Karnprayag assembly constituency.