Uttarakhand: Congress fields ex-CM Harish Rawat's son from Haridwar

Dehradun: The Congress on Saturday announced its candidates for the two remaining Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, fielding former chief minister and senior party leader Harish Rawat's elder son Virender Rawat from Haridwar and Prakash Joshi from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar.

They were figured in the fourth list of candidates announced by the Congress in New Delhi on Saturday.

Virender Rawat is pitted against former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat of the BJP in Haridwar while Joshi will take on Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt in Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar.

BJP's Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank won from Haridwar in both 2014 and 2019 general elections, however, Virender's father Harish Rawat had won it in 2009.

Prakash Joshi is an INC office bearer.

Congress had earlier announced its candidates for the other three Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand -- Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal and Almora.

Jot Singh Gunsola is the party's candidate from Tehri Garhwal against sitting BJP MP from the seat Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Ganesh Godiyal from Pauri Garhwal and Pradeep Tamta from Almora.

Godiyal will take on BJP national media incharge Anil Baluni in Pauri Garhwal while Paradeep Tamta will battle it out against former Union minister Ajay Tamta in Almora, a seat the latter has been winning since 2014.