Political activities in the hilly state of Uttarakhand have warmed over the past week with bids by the political parties to lure voters on their side as the state goes to polls to elect a new 70-member assembly on February 14.
Since Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, the BJP has remained the dominant party in the state. It has made the Congress fight for power sharing. After the 2002 assembly polls, the BJP formed governments twice but ironically witnessed frequent changes in the leadership of the state. The only time the Congress could remain comfortable was when the then chief minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari, a veteran Congressman, had won the majority in 2002. In 2012, it was an extremely close contest with the Congress bagging 32 seats and the BJP winning 31.
This time around, the Congress is being led by former chief minister Harish Rawat but the party is beset with instances of infighting and collision within its own ranks. The BJP saw the exit of Harak Singh Rawat who crossed over to the Congress.
While caste factor plays a vital role in a bigger state like U.P., Uttarakhand does not witness such factors which can play a vital role in deciding the fate of candidates.
About two months ago, a religious congregation in Haridwar had seen inflammatory speeches being made at Dharam Sansad by some seers. However, it has not found any traction among the voters.
From the BJP, a young chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, third in a row from the BJP who took over only in July last year, is trying his best to retain power in Uttarakhand and giving finishing touches to the party’s social media outreach and reaching out to the people with the government’s achievements in improving infrastructure and other facilities in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has touched upon the expansion of road and rail networks in the state which has been hit by some of the worst natural disasters in the past few years. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda have also chipped in the campaigning, addressing meetings and carrying out door to door contact programmes with the voters.
ALSO READ: NewsMobile Editors Analysis: Issues That May Decide Results Of UP Polls
From the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have made several trips to Uttarakhand and pinned their hopes on old warhorse Harish Rawat to sail through the coming elections.
As many as 632 candidates are in the fray from 70 assembly seats in Uttarakhand for the February 14 elections. In the last elections in 2017, the BJP had won 57 seats while the Congress could score victory on 11 seats while one went to the independent candidate.