BJP, Congress in close race in Uttarakhand

New Delhi: The Assembly election in Uttarakhand will be a close race between Congress and the BJP, with both parties attempting to popularise themselves in various ways. The BJP has a strong power play in some districts of Uttarakhand, while the Congress has a high possibility of becoming a major party in the other regions.
According to several sources, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is still attempting to win popularity in hilly areas, but sources privy to the matter told The Sunday Guardian, “From Haridwar, some independent candidates may fight, but the BJP has a strong chance, however, in the Kumaon region, the districts are more favourable to Congress.”
The state of Uttarakhand was formed in 2000. Located at the foothills of Himalayas, the state has 13 districts, and is divided into two regions—Kumaon and Garhwal. Under Kumaon, there are six districts namely Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar. Similarly, under Garhwal, there are seven districts, Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pauri Garhwal and Rudraprayag.
“Chaubattakhal, under the Pauri Garhwal district, is a significant place with a strong influence of BJP, the number of followers of Satpal Maharaj has increased in the last 25 years. He has also done a wonderful job. In many hilly regions, BJP has done a good job in terms of tourism, transportation. Many females are also supporting BJP as the party has tackled the problem of alcoholism in many regions,” a resident told this correspondent.
Similarly, sources close to the election campaign told this paper, “The BJP and the Congress are in a tight race for votes, and AAP is most likely to cut down their vote share. Despite the fact that the party has raised some fresh concerns, the public chooses the BJP or the Congress. In some regions like Kumaon, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, the Congress has a stronghold while the main opposition (BJP) has a strong influence in several regions of Garhwal such as from Haridwar to Roorkee.” From the Haridwar Rural seat, the Congress has fielded Anupama Rawat, daughter of the former CM and Congress campaign head Harish Rawat, against sitting BJP MLA Swami Yatishwaranand, who defeated Harish in the 2017 elections.
In recent turn of events, many candidates from both BJP and Congress withdrew their nominations. As per the Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Pratap Singh Shah, around 95 candidates from 70 assembly seats withdrew. From February 1, the BJP started a massive campaign. The party has also six rebellious candidates, including Rudrapur MLA Rajkumar Thukral and BJP state-media in charge, Manveer Singh Chauhan. Other candidates are Tika Prasad Maikhuri (Karan Prayag), Mahavir Singh Rangad (Dhanaulti), Jitendra Negi (Doiwala), Dhirendra Chauhan (Kotdwar), Manoj Shah (Bhimtal). Similarly, Uttrakhand Congress has also expelled some of their candidates, Sanjay Negi (Ramnagar), Sandya Dalakoti (Lalkua), MS Kandari (Rudraprayag) and Sanjay Dobhal (Yamunotri). Sources close to Uttarakhand Congress told this correspondent, “If BJP wins, it will be only because of AAP as there is a possibility that the AAP may cut the vote of Congress. In some regions, where Congress used to be stronger, BJP has surpassed those regions.” Several candidates from BJP such as Harak Singh Rawat, Yashpal Arya and his son, Sanjeev Arya and Dhan Singh Negi have joined Congress. Dhan Singh Negi has been given a ticket from the Tehri constituency. He, who was then a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, won the seat in 2017 by defeating independent candidate Dinesh Dhanai by 6,840 votes.
Also, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP candidate Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah defeated Indian National Congress candidate Pritam Singh by 300586 votes in Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha (MP) Seat. However, this time, from the Tehri seat, the BJP has fielded former Uttarakhand Congress head Kishore Upadhyay, who recently joined the party.
In the 2022 poll-bound election, due to the personal involvement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in several redevelopment projects in Kedarnath, it is considered as one of the six VIP seats in Uttarakhand along with Gangotri, Srinagar, Haridwar, Khatima. Since becoming Prime Minister in 2014, he has visited Kedarnath five times. However, many independent candidates will also contest the election this time. However, due to rising migration, voter turnout has decreased in recent times. The election for the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly will be held on 14 February.