Sources have stated that before it becomes the Ganga at Devprayag after flowing some 200 km downward from Gangotri, it is the Bhagirathi. And where the river begins, the poll contest playing out involves the environment as well as political rebellion. A veteran RSS swayamsevak and one of the oldest Jan Sangh members in Uttarkashi, Surat Ram Nautiyal, is contesting against BJP.
Gangotri constituency is symbolic not just in religious terms but also politically. Whichever party has won here has always formed the government of the state, be it Uttarakhand or Uttar Pradesh.
It is also the centre of a tussle between Chief Minister
Harish Rawat and the NDA government over the eco-sensitive zone scheme notified
by the UPA government in 2012. Under the scheme, the “entire watershed of about
100 km” of the Bhagirathi from its origin at Gaumukh to Uttarkashi, covering
4179.59 sq km, is termed the eco-sensitive zone, imposing many restrictions on
projects.
