The process of filing nominations for all the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand going to the polls in the first phase on April 11 ended on Monday amid steady rainfall.
The scrutiny of the nominations will be done on March 26 while the last date for withdrawing nominations is March 28, top officials in the state electoral office said.
Meanwhile, morning showers failed to dampen the spirit of the candidates who were busy campaigning full steam in the state.
However, the helicopters of some top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress could not take off due to bad weather. As a result, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and a few top Congress leaders could not crisscross the length and breadth of the state.
In rain-drenched Dehradun, most of the candidates including state Congress President Pritam Singh, filed their nominations for the Tehri seat. "The rain failed to dampen our spirits. The Congress will win all the five seats in Uttarakhand," said Singh, who will face Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah of the BJP, who filed her nomination on Friday.
In Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar district, Congress General Secretary Harish Rawat filed his nomination for the Nainital seat. He also organised a rally in the town where he accused the Central government of failing to improve the conditions of the farmers.
Rawat is pitted against state BJP President Ajay Bhatt, who also filed his nomination for the Nainital seat on Monday.
Ajay Tamta of the BJP and Pradeep Tamta of the Congress filed their nominations for the Almora constituency. This contest is being billed as a fight between two Tamtas, both of whom had defeated each other once in the past.
In Haridwar, former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP filed his nomination. Chief Minister Rawat was also present at an election rally in the city to drum up support for the party.
Congress candidate Manish Khanduri, son of former BJP Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri, filed his nomination for the Pauri seat where he is pitted against Tirath Singh Rawat, National Secretary of the BJP.
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), a prominent regional party, also fielded five candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Similarly, the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party combine too fielded five candidates. While the BSP will contest four seats, the SP will fight from Pauri.
--IANS
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