Sympathy wave to help sitting Congress MLA

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 9

The reserved Assembly seat of Gangolihat is represented by Narayan Ram of the Congress who has wrested the seat from his traditional rival Joga Ram of the BJP by a margin of over 8,000 votes in the 2012.

The seat, created after the delimitation process, was initially won by Narayan Ram Arya, the present MLA in the first state Assembly elections in 2002 by defeating the BJP’s Joga Ram with a margin of over 400 votes. Joga Ram snatched the seat from Narayan Ram in the next elections in 2007 when he polled 14,755 votes while Narayan Ram could poll only 11,965 votes.

The Gangolihat constituency has a total of 98,303 voters, including 50,676 male and 47627 female, according to the information released by district election office on December 13 last year. The Assembly, with 154 polling booths and most backward, is situated on the border of Bageshwar, Almora and Pithoragarh. People of villages keep migrating to the adjoining regions in search of livelihood.

“Gangolihat has not been developed in the last 16 years of statehood that could stop migration from here,” said Kishan Pathak, a journalist-based in Gangolihat.

As Narayan Ram, a close aide of the Chief Minister, is the sole ticket aspirant from the party. He has got people’s sympathy as he has lost his two sons this year in accidents.

Narayan Ram Arya, the Congress sitting MLA, said he had fulfilled the aspirations of people in every spheres of development and opened tehsils in Thal and Ganai Gangoli, besides opening a degree college and polytechnic college in the region. “I have constructed several pending roads and opened two ITIs at Raiagar and Pankhu areas of the Assembly and working towards linking all corners of the Assembly with roads,” said Narayan Ram.

The BJP said he had developed only the Ganai region of the constituency from where he belonged. According to the people, Narayan Ram failed to address all constituency villages equally. “Besides getting approval of some development projects for Ganai, the Congress MLA did nothing to develop the Assembly in his 10 years period,” said Fakir Ram Tamta, BJP worker and aspirant of party ticket from the seat.

After the death of former BJP MLA from the constituency Joga Ram, several new faces are trying for BJP party ticket. These include Khajan Guddu, who has inducted into the party recently.

Besides Guddu, senior RSS worker Fakir Ram, a close aide of Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, a local leader Gokul Gangola and Sanjay Tamta, younger brother of local MP and Union Minister of State for Textile Ajay Tamta, are vying for BJP ticket this time. “ Khajan Chandra Guddu, a businessman based in Haldwani, is active on the seat and after shifting of side, he has been lobbying to get BJP ticket from the seat,” said Pathak.