Uttarakhand polls: BJP announces list of 59 candidates, drops 10 sitting MLAs
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his 11 cabinet colleagues and the BJP Uttarakhand president Madan Kaushik have been given tickets to contest from their constituencies without a change
DEHRADUN: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced the first list of candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly elections at party national headquarters in Delhi.
Union minister and party election in-charge for Uttarakhand, Prahlad Joshi declared candidates on 59 out of 70 assembly seats in the state, dropping 10 sitting MLAs.
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his 11 cabinet colleagues and the BJP Uttarakhand president Madan Kaushik have been given tickets to contest from their constituencies without a change
The list was announced a day after the meeting of the BJP central election committee.
It includes chief minister Dhami from Khatima constituency, party state president Madan Kaushik from Haridwar, cabinet ministers Dhan Singh Rawat from Srinagar, Subodh Uniyal from Narendra Nagar, Ganesh Joshi from Mussoorie, Swami Yatishwaranand from Haridwar (rural), Satpal Maharaj from Chaubattkhal, Bishan Singh Chuphal from Didihat, Rekha Arya from Someshwar, Banshidhar Bhagat from Kaladhungi and Arvind Pandey from Gadarpur.
The other prominent names included in the list are sitting MLA Umesh Sharma Kau from Raipur constituency and Speaker Premchand Aggarwal from Rishikesh constituency.
Joshi while addressing media persons also informed that the first list has five women candidates.
“It has been done on the lines of women empowerment. The party will announce the list of remaining 11 candidates soon,” said Joshi adding, “The party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will again return to power with a thumping majority in 2022.’