Pokhriyal seeks divine intervention

In Hardwar parliamentary seat, former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” is trying to seek divine intervention.
If Mr Pokhriyal is busy with door-to-door campaigning and meeting electorate, he is also making a point to visit sadhus and seers, who have a major presence and influence in the area. Still battling the corruption taint, Mr Pokhriyal has also asked yoga guru Ramdev and former Congress leader Satpal Maharaj, considered as a spiritual leader and having a significant number of followers, to campaign for him.
Baba Ramdev, who has taken a pledge to make BJP leader Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister of the country, and his disciples are busy campaigning for the former chief minister, who is battling against factional splits in his party. The Congress has fielded Renuka, wife of chief minister Harish Rawat, who is also the sitting MP.
Sources disclosed that the efforts by Mr Pokhriyal and the state unit of the BJP to placate senior BJP leader Madan Kaushik, who was eyeing the Hardwar seat, have failed. While the former chief minister is from Pauri, Mr Kaushik is from Hardwar and was hopeful that the leadership will field him from this parliamentary constituency.
Hardwar has a significant number of minority and “non-Pahari” voters because of its proximity to Uttar Pradesh. While Mr Pokhriyal is taking up the deteriorating law and order situation, bad civic amenities and plight of sugarcane farmers in his campaign, the Opposition is still highlighting the alleged scams over which Mr Pokhriyal had to quit the chief minister’s post in 2011.
Nomination for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand began from Saturday and the polling will be held on May 7.