With the post of the Mayor of Dehradun being kept in the general category, the BJP and Congress are now focusing on finalising their mayoral candidates. Deliberations among officials lasted late on Tuesday night to finalise the position of reservation of seats in the local body elections. Though there were chances of this seat being reserved for a woman, this seat was kept in the general category during the previous local body elections.
Some politicians had alleged that attempts were being made to get the seat reserved for a woman candidate but this did not happen. Now the two main parties- BJP and Congress are focused to finalise their mayoral candidates. In the BJP, present Mayor Vinod Chamoli is the main contender though some other party leaders who have been representing the business fraternity including Umesh Agrawal and Anil Goyal among others are also said to be in the race for being declared the BJP mayoral candidate.
Though Chamoli is seen as a stronger contender than others in the party, the probability of political factors favouring others cannot be ruled out. In the Congress, leader of opposition in the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun, Ashok Verma, former Dehradun mayor Manorama Dobriyal Sharma and Uttarakhand PCC vice president Suryakant Dhasmana are also said to be competiting for the party ticket to contest the election to the post of Dehradun mayor. The expected candidates, in both the national parties, are now focusing on strengthening their position.