Rebels make contest tough for Naithani, Vinod Kandari

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 7

Devprayag, from where the Ganga originates at the confluence of the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi, is known for neck and neck contests in the Assembly elections since the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh era.

The constituency is once again set to witness a fierce contest as the candidates of the BJP and the Congress are facing rebellion over the allocation of ticket.

The BJP has fielded Vinod Kandari while the Congress has given ticket to sitting MLA Mantri Prasad Naithani, who is a member of the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), a group of Independents and other parties that is supporting the government. The PDFhelped the Congress form the government and survive the last year’s political crisis. Naithani, who joined the Congress recently, had contested as an Independent candidate in 2012.

Naithani’s candidature has infuriated Congress leader Shoorveer Singh Sajwan, who is in the fray as an Independent candidate this time. Notably, when the Congress had fielded Sajwan in 2012, Naithani had revolted and contested successfully as an Independent candidate. Shoorveer Singh Sajwan had won from the Devprayag seat for the first time in 1985.

Meanwhile, things are not easy for the BJP too as its former leader Diwakar Bhatt is in the fray as an Independent candidate. Bhatt had joined the BJP for ticket, but he was unhappy after the party fielded Vinod Kandari. The BJP expelled him last week from the party’s primary membership for six years.

Bhatt was Devprayag MLA in 2007. He bagged 20,980 votes to give Congress’ Mantri Prasad Naithani (9,385) a crushing defeat by 11,595 votes. However, Bhatt lost to Naithani in the 2012 Assembly elections by a slender margin of around 1,200 votes.

In the Assembly elections of 2002, Naithani contested on the Congress ticket and bagged 9,912 votes to defeat BJP’s Raghuveer Singh Pawar (7,660).

Naithani supported the Congress and was made Education Minister. He focused on development works in Devprayag. He says he has got the Kumbh Mela periphery stretched up to the holy town of Sangam (Devprayag) during Ardh Kumbh last year. Ardh Kumbh, which attracted and will draw not only Kumbh devotees but also tourists to the ancient town. The Kumbh budget will cover Devprayag as well. The renovation of Ganga Ghats, laying of sewerage and sanitation services facilities last year were carried out from the Ardh Kumbh budget.

Naithani, at an an election meeting in Devprayag town, claimed that 90 per cent of the announcements he had made during his electioneering in the 2012 elections had been fulfilled.

“A degree college in Badiyagadh has been sanctioned. The Paurikhal NCC academy, a water pipeline project that is providing potable water to several villages, sub-office of the Rehabilitation Directorate in Devprayag and recarpeting of roads in various parts of the segment have also been sanctioned,” he says.

Naithani, who has been associated with the annual Shri Vishwanath Dev Doli pilgrimage, says he wants to renovate ancient temples and other shrines in the state.

However, Diwakar Bhatt has another story to tell. He says a majority of development projects that Mantri Prasad Naithani has inaugurated were actually initiated during his tenure as the legislator of the constituency.

Bhatt, while campaigning at Simswarat Talla and Simswara Malla, said, “Naithani has been fooling people for the past five years. Leaders like Naithani and Shoorveer Singh Sajwan have made no mentionable contribution to the separate statehood movement in 80s and 90s. I was active those days and led the movement in Garhwal as well as Kumaon.”

It was 1980 when Diwakar contested the Assembly elections from Devprayag for the first time but lost to CPI candidate Vidya Sagar Nautiyal by 2,000 odd votes.

BJP’s young candidate Vinod Kandari, who has been associated with the party’s youth wing, is also confident of his victory. He says there will be no impact on his campaign of his uncle Matbar Singh Kandari joining the Congress once again in three years.

Political analyst Ramesh Negi says Devprayag is facing a four-cornered contest and all four candidates have influence in the constituency. “The victory margin in the 2012 Assembly elections was slender, and this time it is expected to be ultra slim,” he says.

An aggrieved Sajwan is expected to eat into the traditional Congress vote bank. Diwakar Bhatt’s supporters are also trying to get sympathy votes claiming it to be his last elections. The Devprayag segment, which has 82,100 voters, has been represented twice by former BJP leader Matbar Singh Kandari (now in the Congress fold). Independent Satya Singh was the first legislator from the segment. Inder Mohan Baduni, also known as the Gandhi of Uttarakhand, who pioneered the Uttarakhand separate statehood movement, also represented this seat in 1977. Vijaya Laxmi is the only woman legislator to have represented the constituency in 1962.

Sajwan may dent Congress vote bank

Shoorveer Singh Sajwan rebelled against the Congress after the party fielded Mantri Prasad Naithani. The party had fielded Sajwan in the 2012 elections but Naithani emerged victorious as an Independent candidate. Sajwan, who won in 1985 from the Devprayag seat for the first time, expected to eat into the traditional Congress vote bank.

‘No impact of Matbar Kandari’s exit’

BJP candidate Vinod Kandari, who has been associated with the party’s youth wing, is confident of his victory. He says there will be no impact on his campaign of his uncle Matbar Singh Kandari joining the Congress once again in three years.