Haridwar:
A day after joining the BSP and being named its candidate from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat, Bhavna Pandey quit the party on Tuesday, dealing a blow to it.
Ms Pandey said she will join the BJP on March 28. “I will campaign for BJP candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat,” she told PTI.
Soon after Pandey quit the BSP, the Mayawati-led party declared Maulana Jameel Ahmed Kazmi, former party MLA in Uttar Pradesh, as its new candidate from Haridwar.
BSP chief Mayawati had also contested from Haridwar in 1984. She had collected around 1.25 lakh votes but lost the polls.
The BJP has won a seat in Haridwar since the 2014 general elections. This time, it has unseated former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, replacing Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
The Congress has fielded former Prime Minister and party veteran Harish Rawat’s son Virender Rawat from Haridwar.
Former journalist and independent MLA from Khanpur Umesh Kumar has also entered the fray from his seat as an independent.
Mr Kumar had made a sting video of then Chief Minister Harish Rawat in which he negotiated a deal to buy back the support of rebel MLAs in 2016.
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