Congress Fields Former MP Pradeep Tamta For The Fourth Time From Almora

Congress has picked former MP – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – Pradeep Tamta from Almora constituency when it announced the names of its candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.  Pradeep Tamta represented Almora constituency when he was first elected to Lok Sabha in 2009. 

Born in Lob, a village in the Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand, Mr Tamta completed his education at Kumaun University in the Nainital district. He is a well-educated politician carrying an MA, BED and LLB. The 66-year-old veteran Congress leader was first elected to the state assembly in 2002 from Someshwar constituency.

Notably, the veteran Congress leader was fielded three times for the state assembly and three times for Lok Sabha. But, he emerged victorious only twice out of six elections he contested. Pradeep Tamta had won the Almora constituency in 2009 defeating the BJP’s Ajay Tamta with a narrow margin. However, Mr Ajay Tamta won the seat with 58 per cent votes while the Congress’s Pradeep Tamta trailed behind with 38 per cent in 2014 Lok sabha elections. By 2019, the saffron party further improved its votes share with Ajay Tamta securing 64 percent while Congress’ Pradeep Tamta again came as runner-up with 30 percent vote share.

The constituency has a total of eight assembly segments, with one reserved for Scheduled Caste (ST). Since 2019, the Lok Sabha seat has been reserved for ST.

Interestingly, Ajay Tamta and Pradeep Tamta have been given tickets for the fourth time by their respective parties for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The constituency is expected to go to the polling booth during the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections, as per the schedule.