Harak wants a local to contest from Pauri LS seat

Dehradun: Amid speculations that BJP may opt for a rank outsider, who may be a former Armyman, for the crucial Pauri-Garhwal

Lok Sabha

seat -- since the area has a large number of voters from defence background-- forest minister Harak Singh Rawat has pitched for local leader instead of an outsider.

Speaking to TOI, the minister said, “Selection of candidate for the Pauri constituency is up to the party leadership, but I feel that fielding a rank outsider might not work. Simply because a person is from the military background can’t be the sole criteria for selection of candidate.”

Rawat said that though having a candidate from defence background (referring to incumbent MP Maj Gen BC Khanduri) had worked in the last elections, there were other factors behind the win. He said voters' perspective has changed now and the old strategy might not work this time.

The minister’s comment assumes significance since the region has seen hectic campaigning by former Nehru Institute of Mountaineering director, Col Ajay Kothiyal, who had in an interview to TOI said he planned to foray into politics from Pauri-Garhwal parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders say party's internal survey for all constituencies are going on to assess the ground-level position.

In the BJP camp, three names were doing the rounds for the seat earlier. The first name was that of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's son Shaurya, who had intensely started setting up his base, but he and his team went silent about four months back. Then, BJP national general secretary Tirath Singh Rawat had openly expressed his willingness to contest from the seat. A faction of the BJP, led by Lansdown MLA Dalip Singh Rawat had pitched for Khanduri’s daughter Ritu for the constituency.