Despite cloudy weather on Sunday, the political climate in Dehradun was hot because Bharatiya Janata Party had declared its candidates on six remaining seats on Saturday late evening and similarly the Congress which was under pressure to release the list since BJP declared its first finally declared its list of candidates for 63 out of 70 constituencies. With this development the disgruntled supporters of some leaders vandalised Congress state head office in Dehradun on Sunday afternoon. Two hardcore leaders, whose politics were based on the mountains, had to shift to the plains. Interestingly Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who kept talking about mountain-issues and how to improve connectivity in mountainous areas, is contesting election from both Kumaon and Garhwal regions. In Garhwal he would contest from Haridwar Rural and in Kumaon he would contest from Kichha assembly constituency of Udham Singh Nagar district. Political analyst said that party high command has asked Rawat that since departure of former Congress leader Yashpal Arya and his joining the BJP, the area is facing scarcity of senior leaders which can be overcome by Rawat contesting which would also impact nearby constituencies as well.
As is known, the CM Harish Rawat apparently has a special affection for Haridwar district so being a chief minister he spends some portion of time from his daily routine in Haridwar district when he is in the state. Both Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay and Rawat are banking on the Muslim community vote because in Sahaspur constituency where Upadhyay is the party candidate, there are more than 30000 Muslim voters while the Haridwar Rural constituency from where Rawat is contesting, also has a considerable number of voters from the Muslim community.
When unruly scene erupted at the Congress Bhawan on Sunday, the police arrived but did not enter into the premises of the party state head office and watched every moment very closely. Political analyst said that candidate aspiration to get ticket shows that party is in fight otherwise they would not have dared to challenge the party high command by tearing their picture and damaging the hoardings.
It should be mentioned here that when the BJP had released its first list of candidates on January 16 then opposition was laughing on their leader and saying that party with difference are under stress because of their own leaders. On Sunday workers of the Congress, which believes in democracy, appeared to have broken all records by expressing their discontent violently, giving enough substance for the opposition to mock at.