Lok Sabha polls: Former Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat to face former CM's son in Haridwar

Haridwar, along with four other Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttarakhand will go to polls on April 19 in the first phase of General Elections. The constituency is set to witness a contest between Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Congress' Virender Rawat who is the son of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

Haridwar Parliamentary constituency comprises a total of 14 Assemblies. BJP had registered victory in the Haridwar seat in both the 2019 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Uttarakhand has traditionally witnessed a close contest between the BJP and Congress. Both parties see the state as an essential battleground for displaying and gaining supporters for their national narratives.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP Ramesh Pokhriyal 'nishank' defeated Congress Ambrish Kumar with a huge margin of 2,58,729 votes. Pokhriyal managed to get 52.4 per cent of the total vote share. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank comfortably defeated Congress Renuka Rawat with a margin of 1,77,822 votes.

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat earlier this month said that the Opposition had run out of options other than poking holes in his party's claim. "We may not win 400 seats, as we have quoted, but will surely go up to 389, 399, or even 404 seats in the upcoming general elections," he said.

Bahujan Samajwadi Party has been a third-ranked party in the previous two Lok Sabha polls in this constituency. This time Jamil Ahmed has got the ticket to contest from the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat. BSP had earlier fielded Bhavna Pandey from the Haridwar seat however she crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In Uttarakhand, the BJP had won all the Lok Sabha seats in the elections in both the 2014 and 2019 elections. With 47 out of 70 assembly seats, the BJP dominated in the 2022 assembly polls, while Congress got 19 seats. BSP and Independents hold 2 seats each.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in the general elections this time. The counting of the votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)

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