The ruling Congress in Uttarakhand on Thursday announced its candidates for the three Assembly seats in the hill state where bypolls are slated to be held next month.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from Dharchula seat, Hira Singh Bisht from Doiwala and Rekha Arya, who joined the party just a couple of days back, from Someshwar, a PCC press release here said.
The Assembly bypolls are scheduled to be held on July 21.
The announcement was made after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi put her seal of approval on their candidature, senior party leader Jot Singh Bisht said. The announcement puts an end to prolonged speculation about Chief Minister Harish Rawat contesting from both Dharchula and Doiwala seats to secure his entry into the state Assembly as an MLA. It is mandatory for Rawat who became chief minister on February 1 this year to make his entry into the state Assembly within six months of being sworn in.
Dharchula is the seat which party MLA Harish Dhami vacated for the Chief Minister while Doiwala is an Assembly segment under Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency which the Chief Minister represented in the last Lok Sabha at the time of taking over from Vijay Bahuguna as Chief Minister.
Bypolls to the Doiwala and Someshwar seats were necessitated after sitting MLAs from there former chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank and Ajay Tamta of the BJP respectively were elected as MPs from Haridwar and Almora constituencies.
Former BJP leader Rekha Arya, who switched over to the Congress on Tuesday, has been fielded from Someshwar where she had given a tough fight to Tamta in 2012 Assembly polls as an Independent candidate. Hira Singh Bisht, who is being fielded from Doiwala, is a senior party leader and former minister.
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