Uttarakhand polls 2022: CEC of Congress will convene today to choose candidates

The Congress's Central Election Committee (CEC) will meet through video conference on Friday, January 21, 2022, at 4 p.m. to choose candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly elections.

Harish Rawat, a Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister, said earlier this week that he does not have the authority to decide whether or not to reinstate Harak Singh Rawat into the party, and that the decision must be made by the party leadership.

"I am not angry with anyone. Congress high command has to decide whether Harak Singh Rawat will be inducted into the party or not. I will accept whatever decision the Congress party takes. I am not in the capacity to decide whether Harak Singh Rawat should be inducted into the party or not," Rawat told

 Harak Singh Rawat was one of the ten Congress MLAs that defected to the BJP in 2016. With the state's assembly elections less than a month away, he wants to rejoin the Congress, but Harish Rawat, the chairman of the party's election campaign committee, appears to be opposed to the idea.

According to sources, Harish Rawat is concerned about Harak Singh Rawat's re-entry into the Congress and has informed the party leadership of his concerns. He is believed to have declared that Harak Singh Rawat should not be welcomed because he has a list of demands and conditions.

For "anti-party activities," Harak Singh Rawat was fired from the Uttarakhand Cabinet and expelled from the BJP. He has expressed an interest in joining Congress, but his re-induction is still up in the air.

On February 14, the Uttarakhand Assembly Election will be held in a single phase. The results of the election will be announced on March 10.

In Uttarakhand's most recent Assembly election, the BJP won 57 seats out of 70.