Uttarakhand: Congress, BJP turncoats locked in an interesting battle in Roorkee

Suresh Chand Jain (L), who was with BJP for over 15 years, now a Congress candidate . Pradeep Batra (R) who deserted Congress in 2016, is fielded by the BJP.

ROORKEE: The Congress and BJP turncoats are locked in an interesting battle in Roorkee constituency for the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. What makes this seemingly plain contest perplexed is that both the candidates, who fought the 2012 polls against each other, have switched the sides in 2017. Suresh Chand Jain, who was with BJP for over 15 years and lost to Congress' Pradeep Batra in 2012 by a margin of 801 votes, is contesting on ticket of the grand old party. Batra, who deserted Congress in 2016, was given ticket by BJP. "Mine is the fight for justice. I worked all my life with loyalty and fairness for BJP but it has inducted 14 tainted leaders from Congress, and ruined the party. So, I stood up against this injustice," Jain said. Jain, who slammed BJP for including "corrupt" leaders in its arsenal, remained silent on changes on Congress leaders including of horse-trading of MLAs on chief minister Harish Rawat. "These are mere allegations, which have not yet been proved. But we all know what Vijay Bahuguna did to this state, he carries a baggage of corruption with him and BJP has welcomed such a leader," Jain was quick to retort. Jain said BJP has not only betrayed the party workers but the people of Roorkee by fielded Batra, who, according to Jain, has 'bought' the ticket. "There is an extreme outrage among people of Roorkee. They are upset and feeling betrayed. I have never witnessed such passion for a candidate among people before," he said. Batra, who was among the nine MLAs including former CM Vijay Bahuguna who defected from Congress, said because there was no provision for the city in the Budget, he joined BJP to protest against CM Harish Rawat. 12 former Congress MLAs, who are contesting on BJP tickets, have made these elections interesting. The campaigning for elections in 69 of the 70 Assembly seats in the state ended on Tuesday. Polling on Karnaprayag seat has been postponed because of the death of a BSP candidate. As many as 75,12,559 voters will decide the fate of 628 candidates on Wednesday.