Dashing the hopes of some old-timers that the party high command would finally favour them with tickets in the two high-voltage constituencies of Haridwar district- Khanpur and Roorkee-by leaving the two new inductees from Congress — Pranav Singh 'Champion' and Pradeep Batra — in the lurch, the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass has bestowed nomination on the two former rebel Congress leaders. It is to be seen what the disgruntled old horses of the party who are now sulking would do. However, a couple of them have already started crying foul of the dissident Congress-turned BJP leaders after the party’s list of candidates was published.
Champion was the MlA from Khanpur till he was disqualified by the Speaker under the anti-defection law. He was elected first as an independent from laksar constituency in 2002 Assembly election, the first one after Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000. However, in the 2007 election, he fought as a Congress candidate from the same constituency and won. In the 2012 election, he registered his third victory from the newly formed Khanpur seat, post delimitation.
Pradeep Batra, another Congress rebel put up by the BJP as its candidate from the Roorkee seat, is known as a soft-spoken youth with a hold on the Punjabi community people who form a large chunk of the constituency’s electorate. However, many in the party are not happy with the selection. One of them is the former legislator from Roorkee Suresh Chand Jain. Soon after the list was published, he vented out his wrath, dubbing Batra as a corrupt candidate. Speaking to The Pioneer, he alleged that the party high command had deceived him in the matter of distribution of ticket. He also vowed to contest from the seat for development of Roorkee. “I will meet my supporters soon and announce what I will do. I would give Batra a run for his money. He is a corrupt person with graft cases pending against him in the court,” he said.