DEHRADUN: The first assembly elections after the 2013 flash floods will see the disaster and its aftermath figure prominently in the electoral narrative in this constituency comprising over 82,000 voters.While BJP nominee Shaila Rani Rawat - who was among the Congress MLAs to rebel - is highlighting the failures of the Congress government post tragedy, the Congress candidate Manoj Rawat - a journalist turned politician who was instrumental in promoting a trekking campaign to Kedarnath - is projecting the works done by the state government, especially in and around the main Kedarnath temple premises area.Asha Nautiyal is likely to make it a triangular battle by filing her nomination papers as Independent candidate. In 2012, she was the BJP candidate and received 17,632 votes. Nautiyal lost by a close margin of 2,328 votes to Congress candidate Shaila Rani, who polled 19,960 votes. After Shaila joined BJP along with other rebels, she was made the party candidate.According to insiders, Nautiyal is all set to contest as Independent and prove a major threat to the BJP and Congress candidate as well.When contacted, Shaila told TOI, "On several occasions I had met CM Harish Rawat and requested him for development of the Kedarnath area, which was devastated by flash-floods in June 2013. But all requests fell on deaf ears and the constituency was left ignored for over two years, following which I was forced to turn rebel and join BJP." She pointed out that be it distribution of relief package, rehabilitation or providing job to widows, the Congress government has proved a complete failure.According to Shaila, there was no opposition from the people or from within the BJP on her contesting the elections. "People of Kedarnath assembly are fed up with the Congress and they need change. They need change for development," she said.Shaila is pitted against Manoj Rawat, who is a journalist turned politician, making his first major political plunge. An M.Sc degree holder, Manoj was the president of Chamoli district youth Congress unit in 1997. Recently, he and his organization Mountaineering and Trekking Association were instrumental in helping the state government organize trekking to Kedarnath from nine different routes."It is only because of the hard work and commitment of the Congress that the number of char dham pilgrims went close to 15 lakh. At Kedarnath alone, 3.09 pilgrims came and all of them appreciated the efforts put in to revive the yatra," he said. Manoj in a scathing attack on Shaila said that she was trying to hide her failures. "On one end she proved a total failure and after becoming a turncoat, she is blaming the party which helped her became a legislator," he added.

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