The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are in a direct contest in the election for the post of Pauri district Panchayat president slated to be held on August 5.
The post of the Pauri District Panchayat president is reserved for women with Deepti Rawat, the wife of cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat contesting for this post, against the BJP candidate Himani Negi, the wife of former District Panchayat president Keshar Singh Negi.
One Congress supported candidate Bharat Singh withdrew his nomination for the post of District Panchayat vice president.
Now, only two candidates —Kutti Narendra Singh and Suman Kotnala from the BJP —are in the fray for the post of the district Panchayat vice president. Sources State that Suman Kotnala has links that can facilitate support from the Congress party. After losing in the Assembly bypolls for the three Vidhan Sabha constituencies and not performing that well in the three-tier Panchayat elections, the BJP is striving to restore some prestige by winning in the election to the post of the district Panchayat president and vice president. With neither the BJP nor the Congress having the required strength to ensure their victory in the District Panchayat polls, various methods are being used by the candidates and parties to ensure support.
The Pauri district magistrate and District Election Officer (Panchayat) Chandra Shekhar Bhatt said that the arrangement has been completed for ensuring peaceful and fair election.
The Uttarakhand Election Commission has appointed Sushil Kumar, Additional secretary as observer for the election. The voting for the posts of District Panchayat president and vice-president will held from 9 am to 2 pm on August 5 and the counting of votes will start from 3 pm onwards followed by the declaration of the results on the same day, he added.