Pithoragarh (U'khand), Jan 26 (PTI) Congress MP Pradeep Tamta said on Tuesday that projection of Harish Rawat as the chief ministerial candidate was necessary to defeat the BJP in 2022 Assembly election in Uttarakhand.

Tamta claimed that there was no other party leader in the state who deserved to be projected as the candidate as their stature was "smaller" than that of Rawat.

"Harish Rawat is the only national leader from Uttarakhand. If he is declared the CM candidate, the Congress is sure to win the battle," the Rajya Sabha MP said at a press conference here.

"Leaders like Indira Hridayesh and Pritam Singh have a local stature, while Rawat is a national leader," Tamat said. "It will not be difficult to unite Congress voters in the state with Rawat as the CM face."

Claiming that there was a strong anti-incumbency wave in Uttarakhand, he said people of the state wanted to get rid of the BJP rule.

Referring to a recent opinion poll conducted by a media house, Tamta said the current chief minister had been ranked "among the worst" in the country.

He also spoke of the "adverse comments" made by the Uttarakhand High Court about the performance of the state government from time to time.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)