Revision as of 08:14, 27 November 2018

2017

BJP wins  57 Of 70 seats, ousts Congress

Kautilya Singh, Bags 57 Of 70 Seats To Oust Cong, March 12, 2017: The Times of India

The region-wise performance of the parties in Uttarakhand in the assembly elections of 2012 and 2017; Kautilya Singh, Bags 57 Of 70 Seats To Oust Cong, March 12, 2017: The Times of India

BJP Scales New Heights In The Hills

In a landslide win -the biggest ever in Uttarakhand's electoral history -BJP has clinched 57 of the state's 70 seats. Congress was virtually decimated as what was termed a “huge Modi wave“ swept over the Himalayan state.

The ruling party , which had secured 32 seats in the 2012 elections, could manage only 11this time. Further compounding its woes, Harish Rawat, the party's tallest leader in the state, faced humiliating defeats in both the constituencies he contested from, Hardwar (rural) and Kichha.

Many of his cabinet ministers also lost their seats, as did state Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay . BJP's success was also marred by the party's state chief Ajay Bhatt losing from the Ranikhet seat.

Regional parties like Bahujan Samaj Party , Samajwadi Party and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal did not register any win. Many of the Independent candidates, who were expected to win in large numbers and play the role of kingmakers, fizzled out at the hustings with only two managing a win. Even before the final results were declared, chief minister Rawat went over to Raj Bhavan around 3pm and tendered his resignation to governor K K Paul. He later told reporters, “Being the leader of the party, I accept this defeat and the verdict of the people.“

He, however, did not fail to cast doubt over the role played by electronic voting machines (EVMs), which he seemed to suggest had been tampered with. Without elaborating on the matter, he quipped, “I salute Modi kranti (revolution) and the EVM chamatkar (magic).“

When queried about the reason for his party's rout, Rawat said that it was mainly because Congress could not convert the big turnout at party rallies into votes. “I just want to say that people have chosen the party to play the role of opposition and we will respect their decision,“ he added.

Even as celebrations continued in the BJP camp, speculation regarding the party's chief ministerial candidate began. Frontrunners being spoken of included former Union minister and Lok Sabha member Satpal Maharaj, who won the Chaubattakhal seat by a margin of 7,354 votes, as well as Trivendra Singh Rawat, BJP's Jharkhand statein-charge who won 58,502 votes, more than double the number his Congress rival Heera Singh Bisht got, to secure Doiwala.

Maharaj told TOI that BJP's landslide win was an indication of “what the people of Uttarakhand want“. “This voting has been done to weed out corruption from the state and to develop it as a role model for other states. The verdict has shown the faith people have in PM Narendra Modi, his leadership and vision,“ he said, adding that BJP would “give an excellent government to the state“.

Rawat loses both seats

Sheo S Jaiswal & Aakash Ahuja, Rawat loses both seats, face, March 12, 2017: The Times of India

Harish Rawat's gambit to contest from two constituencies, Hardwar (Rural) and Kichha, did not pay off on Saturday , as he lost from both. In Kichha, he lost to incumbent BJP MLA Rajesh Shukla, who was repeatedly heard telling voters on the campaign trail that being Congress' CM candidate, Rawat would move to Dehradun if the party won, leaving behind no one to address local problems.

The caste equation in Kiccha, where Shukla's caste is numerically the strongest, and dissidence within Congress' local unit were the other factors that hampered Rawat's campaign, as did the Modi factor. Modi addressed a rally on February 11 in Rudrapur that was attended by over 1 lakh people. Said local Congress member Ajay Singh, “After the CM largely stayed away from the constituency and the Modi wave struck, the result is not unexpected.“

In Hardwar (Rural), Rawat lost despite his daughter Anupama's active involvement with locals over a year and a half. The seat has been won by BJP's Yatishwaranand, who secured 44,964 votes against Rawat's 32,686.

A local school principal said traditional Congress voters had fallen away from the party . “Yatishwaranand...made it a point to contact nearly every voter. The CM had to take care of the entire state, he had no time to go door-to-door,“ he added.