DEHRADUN: Having excelled in shooting ranges, former national-level marksman and father of ace shooter Jaspal Rana, Narayan Singh Rana is all set to revive his electoral fate on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket after a hiatus of nearly 14 years, even as his son will be canvassing for his rival party the Congress in Uttarakhand.Narayan Singh Rana, 65, who has a distinction of becoming the first sports minister of the state from 2000-02, will be contesting from the Dhanaulti assembly constituency.In the 2002 assembly elections, Narayan Rana was defeated by Congress' Jot Singh Gunsola from the Mussoorie constituency, following which Rana was denied a ticket in the next two successive elections in 2007 and 2012."Once again, the party has given me an opportunity to serve people, which I am readily accepting. My primary focus will be to check migration from my constituency. Better education and healthcare facilities come the next," Narayan Rana told TOI.Having served the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Rana now trains budding shooters at Jaspal Rana Shooting Academy here. "Shooting is my passion, and I train young shooters at our academy, along with my two sons, both international level shooters," said Rana.Rana said he joined politics on Jaspal's advice in 1997 after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost the confidence motion and his government could survive for just 13 days. "Jaspal asked me to join politics and we met Vajpayee in Delhi. We told him that we would like to join the BJP, following which I was made an MLC in Uttar Pradesh and later a minister in Uttarakhand," recounted the former minister.However, his son is no longer withy the BJP, and will campaign for the Congress in the polls. Speaking to TOI, former Asian and Commonwealth gold medallist, Jaspal said he would be campaigning for the Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections. When asked whether he would be canvassing for his father in Dhanaulti: "Not really," he retorted.His father, however, said, "Jaspal is a mature man, and can take his decisions. We come from a broadminded family, and do respect difference of opinion among family members."When asked whether he would like his son to campaign for him, Rana senior said, "It is up to Jaspal. I only know that he is the one who has motivated me to take up politics, else I wasn't interested."Notably, Jaspal was given a BJP ticket to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the Tehri parliamentary constituency against Congress' Vijay Bahuguna, but he lost. In 2012, he left the BJP to join the Congress after he was reportedly denied a ticket in the assembly elections. Last year, chief minister Harish Rawat's government made Jaspal the head of a committee to identify traditional games in the state.Despite being diametrically opposite politically, Narayan Rana believes his son will refrain from contesting against him.Rana joined ITBP in 1967 and served in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1971 war. In 1985, he was selected in the Special Protection Group (SPG), which is responsible for the Prime Minister's security.

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