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Record ticket seekers for polls

Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN: The number of ticket seekers for elections to the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly next month seems to have broken earlier records for almost all the political parties in the race. Over 800 aspirants are seeking Congress ticket. Almost all those who were accorded positions enjoying the status of a minister have staked a claim. "The large number of applications may be attributed to the fact that there is no registration money involved," said a senior leader.

The number is near similar in the Bharatiya Janata Party while the smaller parties like Uttarakhand Kranti Dal are also witnessing much hype by aspirants who feel that they are the best candidates to win a seat. Reports of scuffles between supporters of various candidates have come in from Mussoorie, Dehra Dun, Naini Tal, Almora, Srinagar and Pithoragarh.

The Samajwadi Party, which does not enjoy much rapport with the electorate due to Mulayam Singh Yadav's alleged role in suppressing the separate hill State movement in the 1990s, is planning to field candidates from all seats. Similarly, the less known Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh seems to be wooing voters in the Vikas Nagar belt near Dehra Dun. "We will field a few candidates and try to make a presence in the next Vidhan Sabha," Mr Singh told reporters after a kisan rally earlier this week.

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Record ticket seekers for polls

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