PAURI-GARHWAL

Union Minister Major General (Retd) BC Khanduri (BJP) is up against Uttaranchal Tourism Minister Lt Gen (Retd) TPS Rawat (Congress).

In the run-up to the coming Lok Sabha elections, the war between the two generals in the Pauri-Garhwal constituency in Uttaranchal is getting interesting by the day.

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While Union surface transport and highways minister Major General (Retd) BC Khanduri (BJP) was busy wooing minorities in Dehradun, his opponent and Uttaranchal Tourism Minister Lt Gen (Retd) TPS Rawat (Congress) sought the blessings from his mentor and godman Satpal Maharaj in front of thousands of his disciples who had come here from far-flung areas of the constituency.

"It is purely due to the blessing of (Satpal) Maharaj ji that i became an MLA and then a minister," Rawat said at the end of a three-day 'manav dharma sammelan' organised by Maharaj, himself a former AICC secretary.

On the other hand, Khanduri is also preparing for the battle of ballots in his own style. First he donned a Gurkha cap knowing fully well the importance of the sizeable population of Nepalese community in his home constituency. Then he took time to woo minorities, especially Muslims, by roping in some of the leaders of the minority community in the BJP.

Congress had nominated Rawat in a shrewd move, who is a high-ranking retired defence officer and a Rajput instead of Satpal Maharaj who had lost to Khanduri in the last elections.

Observers say Rawat might just have a better chance of winning as not only is he a soldier in a constituency where a sizeable number of families have a member in the armed forces but also because he is a Rajput, the community which forms 55 per cent of the total population in the constituency.