Dehradun: In the selection of candidates for the Urban Local Bodies’ (ULB) elections, the ruling BJP has apparently given preference to new political faces who have a good image in their areas concerned.
The party has announced its candidates for the post of mayors of all the 11 Municipal Corporations across the state. The Urban Local Bodies elections will be held on January 23.
Congress also announced its 10 mayoral candidates
The opposition Congress has also announced its 10 mayoral candidates, besides the candidates for the other Urban Local Bodies. Both the political rivals- the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress- are in no mood to leave anything to chance for putting on a good show in the ULB elections.
List of BJP’s 11 mayoral candidates
The BJP has fielded Saurabh Thapaliyal, Shambhu Paswan, Anita Devi Agarwal, Gajraj Singh Bishta, Deepak Bali, Kiran Jaisal, Aasha Upadhyay, Shailendra Rawat, Kalpana Devlal, Ajay Verma and Vikash Sharma as its mayoral candidates for Dehradun, Rishikesh, Roorkee, Haldwani, Kashipur, Haridwar, Srinagar, Kotdwar, Pithoragarh, Almora and Rudrapur Municipal corporations, respectively.
There will be no “Hill Vs Plain” in Dehradun this time
Dehradun is set to witness a tough fight between the mayoral candidates of the BJP and the Congress. The Congress has selected Virendra Pokhriyal as its nominee against the BJP candidate Saurabh Thapaliyal. Interestingly, both the candidates- Pokhariyal and Thapaliyal- were student leaders, besides being associated with the statehood agitation.
In Dehradun, BJP and Congress nominees have similar political background
While BJP candidate Saurabh Thapaliyal was the president of students’ union of the DAV college in the year 2001, the Congress nominee Virendra Pokhariyal was also the president of the students’ union of the same college from 1993-96. The Congress has apparently tried to avoid the chances of “Hill Vs Plain” contest by selecting Pokhariyal as its nominee. In Dehradun, Pahari voters have a good presence. Pokhariyal is also said to be close to the former chief minister Harish Rawat.
ULB’ elections are acid test for the BJP MLAs
The Urban Local Bodies’ elections are an acid test for the BJP MLAs in the state’s different parts of the state. Sources the BJP has consulted its MLAs before selecting its candidates for the urban local bodies’ elections. The BJP MLAs have been tasked to mobilize voters in favour of the party candidates.
