The Nainital assembly constituency is voting in the Uttarakhand assembly elections today, February 14, 2022. The Nainital assembly constituency election result will be declared along with the Uttarakhand election results 2022 on March 10.
Incumbent MLA Sanjeev Arya, who left the BJP to join the Congress in October last year, has been given a Congress ticket to contest the assembly elections. The BJP’s decision, meanwhile, to field Sarita Arya, former chief of the Uttarakhand Congress women’s division, ruffled some feathers back in January.
She got the ticket only a few days after she joined the saffron party. Sarita, however, is the only female candidate in the Nainital contest and was elected MLA in 2012.
Nainital is a constituency reserved for scheduled castes. It is part of the Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Only Sanjeev, who is the MLA and Congress candidate, has one criminal case registered against him. There are two candidates in the ‘crorepati’ bracket. A total of seven candidates filed nominations for this assembly seat, of which two withdrew. A total of five candidates are contesting.
Following is the full list of candidates for the Nainital assembly seat in Uttarakhand along with details from their election affidavits as analysed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR):
Sanjeev Arya, Indian National Congress
Incumbent MLA and Congress candidate, Sanjeev Arya jumped ship from the BJP in October last year. He is the only candidate to declare a criminal case in his election affidavit. The 43-year-old postgraduate has declared business as his profession, and has total assets worth Rs 8.5 crore without any liabilities. He has declared Rs 2.9 crore as movable assets and Rs 5.7 crore as immovable assets. He has a self-income of Rs 3.8 lakh, as per the affidavit.
Sarita Arya, Bharatiya Janata Party
After being in the eye of the storm last month, Sarita is all set to give tough competition to incumbent MLA and Congress candidate Sanjeev Arya. She was the formerly the president of the Uttarakhand Mahila Congress and joined the BJP on January 17. A housewife and Class 10 pass-out, the 61-year-old has total assets worth Rs 55.5 lakh, as per her election affidavit. She has no liabilities with movable assets of Rs 47,086 and immovable assets worth Rs 55 lakh. She has not declared any self-income and criminal case against her.
Rajkamal Sonkar, Bahujan Samaj Party
A shopkeeper by profession, Rajkamal Sonkar is a Class 5 pass-out. The 48-year-old has total assets worth Rs 12.5 lakh, of which Rs 2.5 lakh are movable and Rs 10 lakh immovable. He has no liabilities and self-income, as per his election affidavit.
Hem Chandra Arya, Aam Aadmi Party
The only other ‘crorepati’ in the mix apart from incumbent MLA Sanjeev Arya, Hem Chandra Arya has declared Rs 16.8 crore as his total assets in his election affidavit. He has declared Rs 29.4 lakh as movable and Rs 16.5 crore as immovable assets. He has Rs 18.5 lakh as liability and Rs 4.8 lakh self-income. He has no criminal cases against him, and has said his profession is agriculture and hotels.
Om Prakash, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal
Om Prakash has declared agriculture work as his profession in his election affidavit. The 46-year-old is a Class 10 pass-out. He has declared Rs 81.7 lakh as total assets, of which Rs 9.7 lakh is movable and Rs 72 lakh is immovable. He has a liability of Rs 7.8 lakh and no self-income. He has not declared any criminal case.
According to a report released by ADR, the average of assets per candidate contesting in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections 2022 is Rs 2.74 crore. In 2017 Uttarakhand assembly elections, average assets per candidate for 637 candidates was Rs 1.57 crore.
The Uttarakhand assembly has 70 seats in all, with 36 being the majority mark. These constituencies are spread over three regions – Garhwal (22), Maidan (28) and Kumaon (20).
In the 2017 Uttarakhand elections, the BJP had ousted the Congress from power, bagging 57 seats – the highest any party managed since the state’s formation in 2001. The Congress was left with 11 seats.
Like all election seasons in the hill state, all eyes are on whether the party in power returns for a historic second consecutive term. The ruling BJP, riding high on the “double engine mantra” of Centre and state, is confident of breaking the jinx, while the Congress is hoping to corner the BJP on frequent change in CMs.
Read all the Latest Politics News here
Comments
0 comment