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Uttarakhand civic polls: BJP loses ground, Congress redeems itself
Both the Congress and the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand have received major blow from independent candidates in the just-concluded urban local bodies polls that could change political equation of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to repeat its 2017 assembly election victory during the urban local body polls held in Uttarakhand last week. Congress may have tried to redeem itself but both national political parties received major blow from independent candidates that could change political equation of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
BJP had swept 57 seats of 70 in 2017 legislative polls. Congress could bag only 11 seats and two seats went to independents. The results of the assembly polls, made saffron party confident of its win in ULB polls. But, it was seen struggling on several key seats.
Of 83 ULBs (polling and result of one ULB Pokhri town panchayat in Chamoli on Thursday), BJP bagged 34 seats of Mayor/Chairman which includes five municipal corporations while 25 seats went to Congress which includes two municipal corporation seats. Congress swept two key seats from BJP-Haridwar and Kotdwar which BJP failed to retain.
In 2013 local body polls, of 69 seats of Mayor/Chairman, BJP and independents won similar number of seats-22. Congress didn't bagged even a single Mayor/chairman seat then.
The saffron party was confident of winning Haridwar Municipal Corporation seat where Anita Sharma of Congress defeated Anu Kakkar of BJP with a margin of 3467 votes. Including former chief minister and Member of Parliament Haridwar, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, ministers like Madan Kaushik and local MLAs campaigned for the mayoral candidate.
Of total 11 assembly seats in Haridwar district only three are with Congress, remaining 8 seats are with BJP.
Similar situation prevailed in Kotdwar Municipal Corporation where Hemlata Negi won from Congress party but BJP was left on third position, runner up is an independent candidate. Kotdwar falls in Pauri district which has six assembly constituencies and all are with the saffron party. Meanwhile, former chief minister Maj. Gen. (retd) BC Khanduri is MP from the Pauri seat.
Even so, the party lost to Congress in CM’s own area Doiwala municipal council from where he won assembly election and won in 2017.
“In ward wise elections, local issues remains prominent which influences vote pattern. But, of 7 municipal corporations, we have won 5 seats. We will analyse our victory and also seats lost,” chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said while addressing media persons here in capital today.
Congress party redeemed itself in the ULB polls. Besides winning two Mayor seats, the party won seven district headquarters. In Dehradun district, the vote margin of Congress as compared to BJP declined while in Haridwar too Congress won several seats.
“ULB election has definitely helped the party to redeem itself. If you compare it with last assembly election, our performance is certainly better,” Suryakant Dhasmana, senior Congress leader said.
BJP however, dismissed the claim of independents sweeping ward 551 wards of 1063 stating that more than 50% of those won weren’t given party symbol to contest, but are party workers.
“We didn’t distribute our symbol in over 50% areas owing to which the candidates contested as independent. But, they are our party members,” Ajay Bhatt, state president BJP said.
Rubbishing this claim, Pritam Singh state Congress president sad, “BJP gave symbol in all seats its we who didn’t gave symbols to candidates. Very soon it will come out that majority independents who won belong to our party.”
