Summary:
Roorkee: With Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the demand for fielding local candidates is gaining strength in Haridwar. Raising similar demand, Subodh Rakesh, general secretary of schedule cast wing of BJP, said, "We strongly demand for a local candidate from plains.” .Earlier, in 2014 general elections, BJP’s Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had defeated Congress candidate and former CM Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka Rawat in Haridwar. It has also been learnt that a faction of Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) workers have made a similar demand from their party’s high command.“More than 60 percent of Haridwar’s population comes from the OBC category. So, we need a person from the OBC or at least from the plains,” said Jitendra Panwar, former district head of Congress youth wing. Workers of all political parties in fray have demanded their high command to field a candidate from the plains and not the hills.While Congress workers have already communicated their sentiments to party’s senior poll observer Mahendra Pal, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), too, has indicated towards fielding a local candidate for the upcoming polls..