Amidst political fluctuations, many not in favour of the Congress party in Uttarakhand, the Pradesh Congress Committee president and party candidate from Sahaspur constituency, Kishore Upadhyay got some respite with rebel Congress ticket seeker Gulzar Ahmed announced that he will campaign in favour of Upadhyay. Ahmed was not happy with the Congress party fielding Upadhyay from the Sahaspur constituency instead of him and could have caused electoral problems for the PCC chief in case he contested the election this year too as an independent candidate.
Ahmed had contested the Vidhan Sabha election 2012 as an independent candidate from this constitutency and had received a noteworthy number of votes, said the PCC president.
Addressing the media persons at the Congress Bhawan on Friday, Upadhyay said contesting the 2012 assembly election as an independent candidate, Gulzar Ahmed had polled about 10,000 votes. For the Vidhan Sabha election 2017 too, he was a strong contender for the Congress party ticket to contest the election from the Sahaspur constituency. However, the party high command decided to field Upadhyay from the constituency in this Vidhan Sabha election. Appreciating the decision taken by Gulzar Ahmed to campaign in favour of the PCC chief, the Congress party is thankful to him, stated Upadhyay. The PCC president further recalled that in the past when the party national vice president Rahul Gandhi had held a meeting in Rishikesh with the office bearers of the party’s bazaar Congress, booth level committees and others, all had been administered an oath to the effect that whoever is allotted the party ticket would be supported by all party workers in a united manner. Despite this, some of these people have broken their commitment and filed nomination to contest the Vidhan Sabha election 2017. The Congress party hopes that such persons who have filed their nominations would withdraw their name from the election. The PCC further went on to appeal such persons who had filed nomination, to withdraw their names from the election in favour of the official Congress party candidates. Those who break the trust of their own organisation might face a difficult time trying to convince the voters to repose their trust on them, added Upadhyay.
Addressing the media at the Press conference, Gulzar Ahmed said that compared to the present, the situation was quite different during the Vidhan Sabha election in 2012. He said that for the Vidhan Sabha election 2017 too, there was considerable pressure from the public and his supporters that he contest the election. However, considering varied aspects after the party declared Upadhyay as the Congress candidate from Sahaspur, Ahmed changed his decision in support of the PCC chief. Ahmed further went on to say that all party workers in the constituency will now work unitedly in favour of Kishore Upadhyay to ensure a thumping victory for the Congress candidate from Sahaspur.