Harish Rawat heeds PM Modi's advice, BJP ignores it

DEHRADUN: 'Parivar-vaad' (nepotism) has been a word long associated with Congress, and in his 2014 poll campaign, Narendra Modi had often mocked the Congress government as Maa-Bete ki Sarkar'. Recently, the PM also advised his party functionaries to not seek tickets for their family members.

But in Uttarakhand, it is the Harish Rawat-led Congress that has stuck to the formula of one ticket per family, while BJP seems to have set aside the PM's advice and has doled out tickets to father-sons, husband and wife, as well as other relatives of senior members. As many as seven such tickets have been given by the party in this election. Former cabinet minister Yashpal Arya and his son Sanjeev were given tickets from Bajpur and Nainital respectively on the day that they shifted to the BJP.

Former CM Vijay Bahuguna's son Saurabh has been fielded from Sitarganj, the constituency that Bahuguna had been representing in the state assembly while ex-CM Major General B C Khanduri's daughter Ritu is the BJP nominee from Yamkeshwar in Pauri Garhwal. BJP state spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan would be contesting from Vikas Nagar and his wife Madhu from Chakrata. Then there is Narayan Singh Rana, related to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who has been fielded from Dhanaulti.

In contrast, Congress has not given any tickets to family members of leaders even though speculations were rife that Rawat's three children -may contest this time.