Harish & Harak Rawat not in Congress’ first list of 53 names for Uttarakhand polls

List includes state Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal, leader of opposition Pritam Singh & former BJP minister Yashpal Arya. Polls for 70-seat assembly are to be held on 14 Feb.

Uttarakhand Congress leader Harish Rawat felicitates former BJP leader and Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat as he joins Congress, in Dehradun on 21 January 2022 | Photo: ANI

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 53 candidates for the Uttarakhand Assembly elections.

Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal will contest from the Srinagar seat while Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly Pritam Singh has been fielded from the Chakrata (ST) constituency.

The names of former chief minister Harish Rawat and Harak Singh Rawat, who joined the party only on Friday, do not figure in the first list of the party.

Yashpal Arya, a former BJP minister who had recently joined the Congress, has been fielded from his Bajpur (SC) constituency.

Sumit Hridayesh, the son of senior Congress leader Indira Hridayesh who died in June last year, has been fielded from Haldwani assembly seat.

देवभूमि उत्तराखंड की सेवा करने के लिए पार्टी द्वारा विधानसभा चुनाव 2022 के लिए घोषित प्रत्याशियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं

कांग्रेस का आना हुआ तय,
अब उत्तराखंड में जनता की होगी विजय pic.twitter.com/dGiJ5Z8CWK

— Uttarakhand Congress (@INCUttarakhand) January 22, 2022

The Congress is seeking to wrest power back from the BJP in the hill state.

Elections will be held for 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand on February 14 and the results will be out on March 10.