Uttarakhand: Congress announces list of 63 candidates

The candidates were decided at a meeting of party's central clection committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

New Delhi, Jan 22: The Congress on Sunday declared its candidates for 63 seats in poll bound Uttarakhand where Chief Minister Harish Rawat will contest from two seats - Kichha and Haridwar Rural.

The candidates were decided at a meeting of party's central clection committee chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, which met here on Saturday. Assembly elections in 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to take place on February 15.

Prominent among the candidates are state ministers Indira Hridyesh who will contest from Haldwani, Surendra Singh Negi who will contest from Kotdwar and Dinesh Aggarwal who will contest from Dharampur.

Mantri Prasad Naithani will contest from Deoprayag, Harish Chandra Durgapal from Lalkuwa while Govind Singh Kunjwal will be the Congress candidate from Jageshwar. The contest in the state is a direct fight between Congress and BJP.

While the Congress is seeking a fresh mandate on the development agenda, the BJP is also using the development plank to stage a comeback. Chief Minister Harish Rawat is also seeking a fresh mandate on the plea that the Narendra Modi led Central government had dismissed his government till it was restored by the Court.

PTI