Cong-PDF jointly field Tamta for Rajya Sabha

Burying their hatches, ruling allies Congress and PDF in Uttarakhand jointly fielded a candidate for the Rajya Sabha election with former Lok Sabha MP from Almora, Pradeep Tamta, filing his nomination on Tuesday. Tamta's candidature had raised eyebrows in the PDF, which was expecting a Rajya Sabha seat in recognition of its "consistent support" to Harish Rawat during the recent political crisis in the state, which finally saw him win the floor test in the Assembly and get reinstated as Chief Minister.

However, last minute confabulations with the Congress high-command assuaged ruffled feathers, with the PDF deciding to stay out of the fray and field a joint candidate with Congress for the Upper House of Parliament. Tamta filed his nomination in three sets and had seven MLAs of the Congress and ally PDF as his proposers in two sets each and eight in the third, Vidhan Sabha Secretary Jagdish Chandra said. Apart from Tamta, Gita Thakur and Anil Goel also filed their nominations as Independents, he said.