Topography makes this LS seat’s issues unique
RUDRAPUR: Nainital-US Nagar parliamentary seat has some common and several different issues than the rest of the state because of its topography as it is spread over both hill and plain areas. Road-related issues, water supply issues, unemployment, connectivity, man-animal conflict, and lack of quality education and healthcare services are some of the main issues in Nainital’s hill areas. On the contrary, pollution, hazardous traffic, flood, water logging and encroachment are the issues in US Nagar district.
Following interaction with people across the constituency, many issues that are bogging down this constituency, came to fore. Due to lack of quality education and healthcare, people in hill areas are dependent on Haldwani and Rudrapur. While hospitals and schools are facing staff problems, man-wildlife conflict has made lives difficult and villagers are forced to leave cultivation due to monkeys and boars. Apart from this, landslides on Haldwani-Almora highway near Khairna have been posing a threat to commuters. Landslides happen mostly in the rainy season but landslides at Khairna are
NAINITAL-US NAGAR 15
2329 2,015,809 1,047,118 968,636 55 regular feature, said Manish Sah, a trader from Garampani in Nainital district.
Pollution near industrial areas in Rudrapur, Kashipur, Bazpur have been affecting locals. Speeding and wrong-side driving have claimed several lives. Floods in rural areas, water logging in both urban and rural areas are big problems in the area. According to Kamal Srivastava, a retired government official in Rudrapur, encroachment
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This constituency came into existence in 1957 and existed until 2009 comprising of Nainital. Kashipur, Haldwani, Khatima and Baheri. However after delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies following creation of Uttarakhand in 2000, it was reorganised and expanded to include 14 assembly segments. The constituency, once a high profile seat represented by Conshowing gress stalwart ND Tiwari, has traditionally remained a Congress bastion. But Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won this seat in 1991-96 and 1998-2002 and consecutively in 2014 and 2019.
The seat spread in Kumaon’s two districts - Nainital and US Nagar - has 14 assembly constituencies. The Nainital seat was considered as a VIP seat because of veteran Congress leader KC Pant and Narayan Datt. They used to contest elections from this seat. When US Nagar came into being as a separate district in 1995, Nainital seat’s name was changed to Nainital-US Nagar seat.
BJP candidate Ajay Bhatt, who is the current minister of state for defence and tourism, and Congress candidate Prakash Joshi are contesting from this seat. Bhatt is a sitting MP of this seat while Joshi has contested the assembly election from Kaladhungi area of Nainital district in 2012 and 2017 but was defeated. Bhatt defeated Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat in 2019 elections from this seat with a margin of 339,096 votes. He received 61.40% votes while Rawat obtained 34.40% votes. Bhatt is facing a challenge to retain the seat.