Uttarakhand by-poll: Congress names Jeet Ram as candidate for Tharali seat

New Delhi, May 2: The Congress on Wednesday named former MLA Jeet Ram as its candidate for the upcoming by-election to the Tharali (SC) Assembly constituency in Uttarakhand.

The May 28 bypoll for the reserved constituency in Chamoli district is being held to fill a vacancy caused by the death in February of sitting MLA Magan Lal Shah.

"Congress President Rahul Gandhi today approved the candidature of Dr Jeet Ram as the Congress candidate for the ensuing by-election to the Legislative Assembly from Uttarakhand from Tharali (SC) assembly constituency," Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said in a statement.

Ram represented Tharali in 2012 but had lost the election to the BJP candidate in 2017. The gazette notification for the bypoll will be issued on May 3 and the last date for filing of nominations is May 10. The scrutiny will be done on May 11, while May 14 will be the last day for the withdrawal of candidates. Polling will be held on May 28 followed by the counting of votes on May 31, a poll official said.

PTI