BJP, Congress bigwigs among 632 vying for power in Uttarakhand

There are a total of 8,172,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, said Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya, who does not use a surname.

Updated on: Feb 14, 2022, 03:06:58 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi, Dehradun

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Elections for the 70-member Uttarakhand legislative assembly will take place on Monday with over 8.17 million voters all set to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 632 candidates, including 152 independents, in the fray.

Polling parties leaving on foot for polling booths located in remote hills areas of Nainital and Bageshwar districts of Uttarakhand. (HT Photo)

Since the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000, this will be its fifth assembly elections.

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Given the difficult hilly terrain, polling officials have left for booths in higher reaches and remote areas well in advance, state’s chief electoral officer Sowjanya said on Sunday.

Over 10,000 polling parties left for booths on Sunday, while 1,400 had left two days in advance and another 35 parties on Friday. Some of them have to trek to reach the polling booths in remote hilly areas, Sowjanya, who does not use a surname, said.

There are a total of 8,172,173 voters in the state and 11,697 polling booths spread over 8,624 locations, said Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya, who does not use a surname.

Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have expressed confidence of winning the elections.

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Prominent candidates in the poll fray include chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his cabinet colleagues Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya besides state BJP president Madan Kaushik. From Congress, former chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state party president Ganesh Godiyal and leader of opposition Pritam Singh are the big names.

The campaigning in the state was dominated by BJP trying to highlight its development plank and attacking Congress leader Harish Rawat over varied issues, while the Congress kept pointing at the failures of the BJP government in providing jobs, checking inflation and the party changing of three CMs within a year. In the last few days of campaigning also got polarised to some extent on religious lines, with BJP accusing Congress of talking about setting up a Muslim university and CM Dhami announcing implementing Uniform Civil Code in the state if the BJP is re-elected. Congress, however, termed it BJP’s “desperate move to polarise polls for electoral gain”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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