"This is very painful": Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana on Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker campaigning for BJP candidate

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 19 (ANI): AICC member and senior vice president of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, Suryakant Dhasmana, lashed out at Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri for campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from the Garhwal parliamentary seat.
He raised objections over Khanduri campaigning for the BJP candidate, Anil Baluni, from the Garhwal with the party's cap, badge and flag and advised the Assembly Speaker to take care of the decorum of the chair.
"This is very painful. The position of Vidhan Sabha Speaker is expected to be fair...Someone who occupies that position displays decent conduct, there are expectations from them...I think this raises questions about the conduct and dignity of the position. Ritu Khanduri should maintain decorum," said the Congress leader.
BJP has fielded Anil Baluni from the Garhwal parliamentary seat against Congress's Ganesh Godiyal. Baluni is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Baluni had earlier also contested elections from the Kotdwar Assembly. This is his first election for the Lok Sabha seat.
Dhasmana said that no doubt the person sitting on the chair gets elected on the ticket of some party or the other, but after being elected as the Speaker of the House, everyone becomes equal for the chair.
"During elections, the chair (Speaker) is expected to conduct themselves in a dignified manner, so that there is no question mark on their impartiality," said the Congress leader.
He said that in the coming days, he expects the Assembly Speaker to correct her mistake.
The BJP aims to retain all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand. Polling on all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will take place on April 19 in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has held all seats since 2014.
Since 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held all five seats in the state -- Almora (SC reserved), Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal.
The Gazette notification will be issued on March 20, with nominations ending on March 27. The last date of withdrawal of nominations is March 30. The counting of votes will be done on June 4. (ANI)