(B.S)
The BJP on Wednesday announced its second list with nine candidates for Uttarakhand assembly polls fielding former state chief minister BC Khanduri’s daughter Ritu Bhushan Khanduri from Kotdwar. Khanduri, the sitting MLA from Yamkeshwar, was not part of the party’s first list which carried the names of 59 candidates. With the latest list, the BJP has announced candidates for 68 out of a total of 70 assembly seats in the state. The two seats for which the party is yet to announce its candidates are Doiwala and Tehri. Doiwala was won by former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in 2017.
Rawat had recently written to party president JP Nadda expressing his unwillingness to contest the polls so he could focus on working for the party’s second consecutive victory at the hustings on February 14. The party is looking for a suitable candidate for Tehri, which is also held by a BJP MLA.