Ahead of the scheduled bypolls next month, both the Congress and the BJP declared their candidates for the Kedarnath assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand.
The Congress on Sunday named former MLA Manoj Rawat as its candidate for Kedarnath, while the BJP announced Asha Nautiyal as the candidate from the seat.
The bypolls are scheduled to be held in Kedarnath on November 20 after the seat fell vacant due to the death of Shailarani Rawat.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said in a press release that party president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved Rawat's candidature.
Manoj Rawat was first elected to the assembly from Kedarnath in 2017. He lost the seat in the 2022 Uttarakhand polls.
The ruling BJP has not yet announced its candidate for the seat, which fell vacant after the death of its MLA Shailarani Rawat.
The last date for filing nomination papers for the bypoll is October 29. The papers will be scrutinised on October 30 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is November 4. The counting of votes for the bypoll will be taken up on November 23.
According to officials, there are 90,540 eligible voters, including 45,775 women, in the constituency and 173 polling stations will be set up.
The Kedarnath bypoll is crucial for both the Congress and the BJP. After winning all five seats in Uttarakhand in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP lost Badrinath and Manglaur assembly bypolls to the Congress.