Over 700 candidates file nominations for Uttarakhand Assembly polls

A total of 722 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the elections on 70 seats of the Uttarakhand Assembly on February 15.

Major political parties like Congress and BJP have fielded candidates from all 70 seats of the state Assembly, whereas Chief Minister Harish Rawat is the only candidate who will be contesting from two seats.

The last date for filing of nominations was January 27.

According to state Election Commission, 722 candidates were found to have filed nomination after the last date of the process.

Twenty four candidates are contesting from the Dharampur Assembly constituency in Dehradun district, which is the highest number of candidates fielded from a single seat.

State Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal who is also contesting from Dharampur seat will be competing with BJP’s candidate and Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli.

In Dehradun district, 20 candidates are testing their electoral fortune from the Raipur and 18 from the Sahaspur Assembly constituencies.

The chief minister is contesting the elections from Haridwar (rural) and Udhamsingh Nagar district’s Kichcha Assembly seats. Both these seats have eight candidates each competing with Rawat.