The Congress party released the first list of its candidates for 63 of the 70 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the State on Sunday afternoon, resulting in reactions ranging from elation to resentment among supporters of some ticket seekers who were denied candidacy. The list of the candidates also includes at least two former leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party with chief minister Harish Rawat being named as the candidate from two constituencies- Haridwar Rural and Kichha.
According to the candidates list issued by the All India Congress Committee, former Bharatiya Janata Party MlA from Sahaspur who had ‘returned’ from the Congress to the BJP in 2014 has been fielded from the Purola (SC) constituency. Further, Sanjay Dobhal has been fielded from Yamunotri, Vijay Pal Singh Sajwan from Gangotri, sitting MlAs Rajendra Singh Bhandari from Badrinath, Jeet Ram from Tharali (SC) and Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri from Karnprayag constituency. The Congress has fielded a ‘fresh’ candidate Manoj Rawat from Kedarnath constituency with its former MlA being fielded by the BJP from the same constituency. In addition to laxmi Rana from Rudraprayag constituency, the Congress has played it safe and fielded sitting MlAs Bhimlal Arya from Ghansali (SC), Mantri Prasad Naithani from Devprayag, Preetam Singh from Chakrata (ST), Nav Prabhat from Vikasnagar, Dinesh Agarwal from Dharmpur and Rajkumar from Rajpur Road (SC) constituency.
The party has fielded Himanshu Bijalwan from Narendranagar constituency, Vikram Singh Negi from Paratpnagar, the Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay from Sahaspur, Suryakant Dhasmana from Dehradun Cantt, Godavari Thapli from Mussoorie, sitting MlA Hira Singh Bisht from Doiwala, Rajpal Kharola from Rishikesh, Bhahm Swaroop Brahmachari from Haridwar, Ambrish Kumar from BHEl Ranipur, Shrish Pal Singh from Jwalapur (SC), sitting MlA Mamta Rakesh from Bhagwanpur (SC), Rajpal Singh from Jhabreda (SC), Furkan Ahmed from Pirankaliyar, Suresh Chand Jain from Roorkee, Yashvir Singh from Khanpur, Qazi Mohammed Nizamuddin from Manglaur, Haji Taslim Ahmed from laksar, chief minister Harish Rawat from both Haridwar Rural and Kiccha, former BJP MlA Shailendra Singh Rawat from Yamkeshwar, Nawal Kishore from Pauri (SC), sitting MlAs Ganesh Godiyal from Srinagar, Surendra Singh Negi from Kotdwar, Mayukh Singh Mehar from Pithoragarh, lalit Farswan from Kapkote, Madan Singh Bisht from Dwarahat and Narayan Ram Arya from Gangolihat in addition to Rajpal Singh Bisht from Chaubattakhal, former cabinet minister TPS Rawat from lansdowne, former MlA Harish Dhami from Dharchula, Pradeep Singh Pal from Didihat, Ganga Pachauli from Salt and Karan Mahara from Ranikhet. Apart from Kushal Singh Adhikari from lohaghat, the Vidhan Sabha speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal has been fielded from Jageshwar constituency, with sitting MlAs Hemesh Kharakwal from Chapawat, Harish Chandra Durgapal from lalkuan, Dan Singh Bhandari from Bhimtal, Sarita Arya from Nainital (SC) and cabinet minister Indira Hridayesh from Haldwani in addition to whom Prakash Joshi has been fielded from Kaladhungi constituency, Ranjeet Rawat from Ramnagar, Manoj Joshi from Kashipur, Suneeta Bajwa from Bajpur (SC), former MlA Tilak Raj Behar from Rudrapur, Malti Bishwas from Sitarganj, Gopal Singh Rana from Nanakmatta (ST) and Bhwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima constituency.