Recent visits by the Prime Minister show that the party would leave no stones unturned to retain power in the hill state.
New Delhi: As Uttarakhand inches closer to the much-awaited Assembly elections, the ruling BJP has accelerated its preparation for the polls. The back to back visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw him inaugurating and laying foundation stones for several upcoming development projects worth over Rs 15,000 crore in Haldwani district, showing that the saffron party would not leave any stone unturned to retain power in the state.
Sources privy to the preparations told ‘The Sunday Guardian’ that the party is gearing up for a bipolar contest with the Congress party and may not give tickets to half a dozen sitting MLAs to check anti-incumbency sentiments.
According to party insiders, the feedback from the ground is that appointment of 46-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami as Chief Minister will benefit the party as within a short period, he has been able to develop a good ground connect, especially because of his long association with the Sangh Parivar.
A senior party leader from Uttarakhand said, “In the last one-and-half months, we have gained momentum. Appointment of ‘Panna Pramukhs’, who will take care of the voters listed on a particular page of the voter list of a booth, is also in full swing in the state. The visit of the Prime Minister and activation of Sangh Parivar’s ecosystem in the last two months is benefitting us big time.”
“It is true that some of the present MLAs are unpopular at the local level. Hence, you would see that these sitting MLAs would not be given tickets this time. In a state like Uttarakhand where some constituencies are quite large area-wise, the resources and cadre of our ideologically similar organisations will benefit us. There are 3,500 Panchayats in the state and if we can connect with all these Panchayats and energise our cadre, we will win the elections.”
“Undoubtedly, the Uttar Pradesh election is very important as it is the largest state in the country, but our party is giving equal focus to Uttrakhand also. Prahlad Joshi has been made the in-charge of the polls. As far as the Opposition parties are concerned, our main challenger is the Congress which is banking merely on the anti-incumbency factor while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is not in the reckoning here. We are certain that the BJP will come back to power with two-third majority.”