Congress' Manorama Dobariyal lone candidate for Uttarakhand RS seat

Congress leader Manorama Sharma Dobariyal became the lone candidate to file nomination for the only vacant Rajya Sabha seat in Uttarakhand on Monday, the last day of filing nominations, making her election to the Upper House a certainty.

Dobariyal filed her nomination papers in the presence of Chief Minister Harish Rawat and a host of party leaders and MLAs at the Vidhan Sabha Bhawan here. Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Secretary Jagdish Chandra said Dobariyal is the only candidate in the fray with no other party fielding a nominee from the seat till 3 PM.

However, a formal announcement about Dobariyal's unopposed election cannot be made before 5 PM on November 13, the last date for withdrawal of nominations. The seat fell vacant after BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was elected to the Lok Sabha this year.

BJP decided not to field a candidate for the seat as it has only 28 members in the 70-member House. "We have decided not to field a candidate as we don't have the numbers and we don't believe in 'jod-tod' (horse trading)," Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt said.

Congress which has 35 MLAs in the 70-member House also enjoys the support of seven-member Progressive Democratic Front. Today was the last date for nominations for Rajya Sabha polls in Uttarakhand slated for November 20.

Dobariyal, a former Dehradun Mayor and a known Harish Rawat loyalist, was declared party's nominee from the seat on Friday despite stiff competition from party heavyweight and former CM Vijay Bahuguna.