Dehradun:

Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat stepped out Thursday morning in Dehradun to vote in municipal body elections in the hill state. Except, he could not.

Mr Rawat – a long-time resident of the city and who voted from Dehradun’s Niranjanpur neighbourhood in the April-June federal election and the 2022 Assembly election – was told his name had disappeared from the list of voters, and that there was nothing to be done about it.

The Congress veteran has voted from Dehradun’s Niranjanpur since 2009.

“I have been waiting since morning… but my name was not found at the polling station at which 9I voted in the Lok Sabha election,” he told news agency PTI, adding, in a sharp swipe at the BJP, “I should have been more alert… knowing they are involved in adding and removing names from the list.”

VIDEO | Dehradun Municipal Elections: Congress leader Harish Rawat raises concerns over voting issues.

“I have been waiting since morning… but my name was not found at the polling station where I voted in the Lok Sabha elections. They are now searching for it… let’s see what… pic.twitter.com/ZnNKmaD00n

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 23, 2025

On complaining to the State Election Commission, he was reportedly told the poll body’s computer server was malfunctioning and that he couldn’t vote for the candidate of his choice.

Elections are being held across Uttarakhand for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 Nagar Panchayats.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who leads the BJP government in the state, this morning called on all voters to exercise their franchise, and “please make the BJP candidates win”.

“I appeal to all the people of Uttarakhand; you have always stood by the BJP and (helped) form a double-engine government. You made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister, again. I appeal to all of you… please make all BJP candidates win and help form a triple-engine government,” he said.

With input from agencies

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Haldwani, Uttarakhand:

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat got minor injuries when his car crashed into a divider in Udham Singh Nagar district, police said.

According to information received, the senior Congress leader along with some of his workers was going from Haldwani to Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar late on Tuesday night when the accident happened, they added.

While trying to overtake a vehicle near the Bajpur railway crossing, the driver of Rawat’s car lost control of the vehicle and it collided with the divider, the police said.

Mr Rawat, who was sitting in the front seat at the time of the accident, received minor injuries, they added.

Mr Rawat today took to X to share about the incident.

In a post in Hindi, the former Chief Minister said he suffered mild injuries when the car collided with the divider, following which he went to the hospital for a checkup and doctors said everything was fine and discharged him.

He added, “…There is no need to worry. Me and my colleagues are fine.”
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)