CONSTITUENCY WATCH: DEHRADUN CANTT

Punjabi vote may split between Harbans Kapoor, Sethi

Dehradun, January 22
State Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor was a visible face of the BJP even when Uttarakhand was part of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and has been elected six times consecutively from the Dehradun Khas Assembly seat.

This time also he is in the election ring, albeit from the newly created Dehradun cantonment seat that came into existence after the new delimitation.

In this seat, delimitation is expected to play a smaller role and may not prove troublesome to the veteran leader. A total of 13 nagar palikas and three cantonment wards have been added in Dehradun cantonment.

Voters: 1.15 lakh Candidates in Fray: BJP: Harbans Kapoor Cong: Devinder Sethi BSP: Nupur Gupta Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha:Rajinder Pant

Facing him would be Devinder Singh Sethi of the Congress, Nupur Gupta of the BSP and Rajinder Pant, a former OSD of Harbans Kapoor, who is fighting on the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM) ticket.

Political pundits say Kapoor’s task has been made easier by the presence of a light weight candidate, Devinder Sethi. “Kapoor should not have any difficulty in getting elected from this seat for the seventh time. Most of the voters of his erstwhile seat, Dehra Khas, are part of the new Assembly seat. By virtue of the relative ease with which Kapoor mingles with his voters, visiting them in the time of distress is a plus point in his favour,” said Dr Devender Bhasin, Principal of DAV PG College.

Political observers also say though the Congress candidate may be a political greenhorn when compared with Kapoor, this time around, punjabi vote may split between the two. As for the first time, the Congress has fielded a Punjabi candidate from the Cantt seat who, too, would be vying for the attention of Punjabi voters, especially from the new area of Prem Nagar.

The BC Khanduri-led government had recently announced according ownership right to the residents of Prem Nagar who had migrated from Pakistan after Partition. “Delimitation has a little impact here. Only the nomenclature of the Assembly seat from Dehra Khas to Dehradun Cantonment has undergone a change. I will be working on unfinished projects, including the improvement of storm drains and addressing the waterlogging problem in my area,” said Kapoor.