Race hots up for ticket in UKD from Haridwar

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 6

The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), which is said to have its main base in hill districts, is keen to constes the forthcoming Assembly elections from constituencies in the plains too.

Senior party leaders visited Haridwar in the past six months. Several leaders have expressed their willingness to contest the election against the three-time Haridwar city MLA Madan Kaushik.

Two ticket claimants are from the Teerth Purohit community that has a major say in the religious and political affairs of the city.

UKD (Airy) Haridwar city Assembly in charge Sareeta Purohit says, besides the city seat, aspirants from Haridwar rural, Ranipur-BHEL, Khanpur, Roorkee and Laksar are also applying for ticket to the party screening committee.

Purohit, who contested the last Assembly elections from the Ranipur BHEL seat, said, “Definitely, people are looking forward to the UKD as a viable answer to the BJP and the Congress. Only the UKD played a vital role in the statehood movement. People, irrespective of political affiliations, came under the UKD banner and staged protests for three decades, eventually leading to the formation of Uttarakhand in 2000”.

District party president Atul Gosain says the party screening committee would finalise the names of candidates from Haridwar district by January 12. All party activists had been asked to reach out to voters and expose the “ill governance and the real face of both power-hungry” Congress and BJP, he said.

“The UKD as an alternative to the national parties is necessary as they have fooled people in the past 16 years. Development has taken a back seat, be it in health, education, telecommunication, basic facilities or job opportunities. Nothing has changed in 16 years,” he says.

Party’s youth wing president Deepak Gauniyal has been given the task of moblising booth-level workers as booth management is the key to winning elections. Gauniyal exuded confidence that any candidate which is given ticket from the Haridwar city seat is capable to given a tough fight to Kaushik. He said people after 15 years have realised their mistake as “Kaushik has amassed huge property and development work in the city segment has been ignored.”

Control room set up for Assembly elections

Dehradun:A control room has been set up for the smooth conduct of 2017 Assembly elections, Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi said here on Friday.

She said the control room would also house media certification and monitoring committee and a committee on model code of conduct.

Joint Secretary JC Joshi has been appointed as the in charge of election audit and budget section while HK Dhadechi has been appointed the technical director of IT cell.

Raturi said orders had been issued for the deployment of officials from the Department of Police, Excise and Income Tax at the control room.