Lok Sabha tickets a tough call for Congress in Uttarakhand as stalwarts in race

With many heavyweights of the Uttarakhand Congress reportedly keen on contesting this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the central leadership faces the task of striking a balance while distributing tickets, a senior party leader said on Sunday.

“It would be a headache for the parliamentary board and the senior leadership to decide whom to give tickets. They will like to exercise caution as awarding ticket to one could upset the other in the race,” the senior leader said on condition of anonymity.

Leader of opposition (LoP) Indira Hriyadesh and former chief minister Harish Rawat are reportedly in the race for the Nainital Lok Sabha seat. State Congress president Pritam Singh and former state unit chief Kishor Upadhyay are reportedly vying for a ticket for the Tehri Garhwal seat. The other Lok Sabha constituencies in the state are Pauri Garhwal, Haridwar and Almora.

The senior leader said: “The biggest headache for the board would be to decide the candidate for the Nainital seat where Rawat and Hriyadesh are in the race. As it is as an open secret that both are opposite poles, denying ticket to one would mean upsetting the other. To avoid this situation, it is possible that Rawat may be given ticket for Haridwar as he is in the race for that seat too.”

Pritam Singh had earlier said the parliamentary board of the state party unit would take the final decision on tickets.

Upadhayay said, “The board is not worried as the process to be adopted for tickets is very clear.” The tickets should be given on the basis of merit and after analysing the contribution of leaders to the party, he said. “We made mistake in 2012 assembly polls and 2014 general elections in which tickets were not distributed on merit and the party suffered. Hopefully, the same mistake won’t be committed this time.”

State media convener Dhirendra Pratap Singh said, “There is no confusion on distributing tickets; the situation will be clear after the Congress working committee meeting to be held in Delhi on January 8.”

The meeting, to be chaired by national president Rahul Gandhi, would be attended by state in-charge Anugrah Narayan Singh and state president Singh, he said. “Much of the air on tickets would be cleared after the meeting. Every issue would be resolved amicably.”