Rebel candidates ruling the roost in U'khand polls

"Na rahega panja, na rahega phool!"(Neither palm nor the flower will stay) is the only slogan of a large section of the electorate poll-bound state Uttarakhand which is all set for Assembly polls on February 15.

The reason of feud between both Congress and BJP revolves around the issue of ticket distribution. Interestingly, among the 70 Assembly seats in the state, most have rebel candidates. They have either swapped parties or have decided to fight independently.

In Narendra Naga, a congress rebel Subodh Unniyal has come face to face with his former colleague Om Gopal Rawat. Similarly, S P Singh of Congress,

contesting from Jwalapur seat, will have a face-off with his former colleague Brij Rani. Also, Congress rebel Ram Singh Kaira is standing against Dan Singh

Bhandari.

From Gangotri constituency, Surat Ram Nautiyal of RSS is contesting while from the Kotdwar constituency, BJP has fielded Congress rebel Harak Singh Rawat.

The BJP has denied giving tickets to party members like Shailender Rawat. At the same time, Harish Rawat pulled the rebel BJP leader and fielded against Ritu

Khanduri, daughter of BJP veteran B C Khanduri. On the contrary, the recent extension of support from former Uttarakhand chief minister, N D Tiwari, has miffed the

people of the state. Also, the party cadres have been barred from contesting elections which include Aryendra Sharma from Congress.

BJP in its totality has inducted 13 Congress rebels and has expelled 17 rebels, including three MLAs. By this move, the RSS seems to be unhappy. RSS and the

Sangh brass have stated that the BJP has been turning deaf ears to them. But in the middle of all political drama, it is to be noticed that unlike other states, Uttarakhand consists of small constituencies. The importance of rebels in giving a shape to the results has been crystal clear.