BJP registers another big win in Uttarakhand
The Congress failed in its bid to stage a comeback despite being on a mission to dislodge the BJP in the hill state
Bucking the trend of the BJP and the Congress alternating in power in Uttarakhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday registered a remarkable victory in the assembly elections by winning 47 out of 70 seats, even as incumbent chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost by 6,579 votes in Khatima constituency.
The party’s vote share in the state dropped to 44.3% from 46.5% in 2017. The party won 57 seats in the previous election.
“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, we have created history today by defying the myth that the BJP and Congress alternately form governments in the state,” Dhami told reporters.
The chief minister said his government would ensure the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state, as promised by his party during the poll campaigns. An expert committee comprising legal experts, prominent citizens and other stakeholders will be formed to draft the code, he added.
Dhami’s loss from Khatima seat has pushed the BJP to look for a new chief minister, with speculation that Ramesh Nishank Pokhriyal, Ganesh Joshi and Bansidhar Bhagat may be contenders even as some people suggested that Dhami may continue as CM.
Uttarakhand BJP vice president Devendra Bhasin said the party high command will take a call on the next chief minister. “As of now, nothing has been decided. There are many frontrunners. But it all depends on the party high command”, he said
Pokhriyal was also one of the contenders for the post in March last year when Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned as chief minister. He was replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat whose term lasted a mere 115 days, and who was replaced by Dhami .
The results belied exit polls that predicted a close contest between the BJP and Congress.
As the head of the Congress poll campaign in the state, former chief minister Harish Rawat failed to pilot the party’s return to the state. He was also defeated in Lalkuan seat in Nainital by BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht by 17,527 votes.
In the 2017 polls too, Rawat lost the two constituencies from where he had contested, Haridwar Rural and Kiccha.
“I apologise to the people of Lalkuan area as I was not able to earn their trust. I lost the opportunity to fulfil the election promises I made to them,” Rawat said.
Barring the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which made a comeback in the state after five years by winning two seats in Haridwar , regional and smaller parties were once again rejected by voters.
The AAP failed to open its account in the state, despite more than half a dozen visits by party chief Arvind Kejriwal and promises of free electricity up to 300 units to every household, jobs to the unemployed or an unemployment allowance, a monthly allowance to women aged above 18 and free pilgrimage to the elderly to Ayodhya, Ajmer Sharif and Kartarpur Sahib.
The BSP and AAP registered a vote share of 4.84% and 3.31 %, respectively.
“Women voters, who outnumbered men in Uttarakhand, played a crucial role in BJP’s victory, particularly in the hill constituencies where the migration of men in search of employment is higher. There is a lot of support for Modi among women in the state. The Modi government distributed free rations during the Covid lockdown. He connects directly with people in rallies and also speaks a few lines in the local language,” political analyst Prof. MM Semwal said.
“While the BJP has a strong leadership at the Centre, the Congress has a mass leader in Harish Rawat. But it neither projected him as the chief ministerial candidate, nor was it able to cash in on the anger against the BJP,” Semwal added.
