BJP on Saturday declared candidates for three out of five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand. The party in power at the Center and the state thought it appropriate to play again on the three old faces. Union Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt has been made the candidate on Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar seat, royal family member Rajyalakshmi Shah on Tehri seat and Ajay Tamta has again been made the candidate on the reserved seat of Almora seat. Candidates have not been announced for the other two parliamentary seats of the state, Haridwar and Pauri. Presently BJP has MPs on all the five parliamentary seats of Uttarakhand. In the list released by the party on Saturday, candidates have been announced only for three seats in the state. With this, the ongoing discussions regarding changing the candidates on all the seats in the state also came to an end.
The party had made changes in the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar parliamentary seat, which was continuously held by the BJP since 2014, in the 2019 elections. Former BJP state president Ajay Bhatt was given the ticket in place of former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari. The party also made MP Bhatt the Minister of State in the Central Government. Expressing confidence in Bhatt, he has also been given Lok Sabha ticket for the year 2024.
Ajay Tamta got ticket for the third consecutive time
For the third time, the party has reposed faith in those who have been winning the Lok Sabha elections from Almora and Tehri seats continuously since 2014. Ajay Tamta has been given ticket for the third consecutive time on Almora reserved seat. At the same time, the ticket of MP and royal family member Rajyalakshmi Shah from Tehri seat has also been confirmed for the third time in a row. Now candidates are to be announced for two seats in the state, Haridwar and Pauri. At present, former Chief Minister and former Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and former Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat are MPs from these seats respectively.