Uttarakhand polls: BJP hopes to reverse Cong clean sweep of 2009

With just five Parliamentary constituencies, the reason the Bharatiya Janata Party is watching Uttarakhand as the state goes to polls on Wednesday is that following the devastating floods of 2013 and the poor progress in redevelopment work, the party hopes to make a clean sweep. While the Congress actually won all five seats in 2009, the tide may have begun turning in 2012, when then MP of Tehri Garhwal, Vijay Bahuguna, was appointed chief minister of the state and a bypoll was necessitated. The chief minister fielded his son Saket, who lost, giving the BJP its only MP in the Hindu-dominated state. [caption id=“attachment_1195805” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rescue efforts after the floods last year. AFP[/caption] In Haridwar, the most watched constituency of the five, present Chief Minister Harish Rawat has fielded his wife Renuka, taking on former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP. There are three women in the fray, including Renuka. The others are AAP’s Kanchan Chowdhry, a former DG of state police, and Anita Saini of the Samajwadi Party. As reported by Firstpost , the BJP appears to be going into the election on a platform of religion and the Modi-for-PM pitch. So, in a two-pronged campaign, the party is hardselling Modi, while right-wing outfits such as the RSS and the VHP have done door-to-door campaigns on issues such as the threat to Hinduism, India’s rising population of Muslims and the country’s relationship with Pakistan. Harish Rawat won in 2009, with a 42.16 percent of the voteshare, defeating Swami Yatindranand Giri of the BJP. While the Congress is facing a stiff anti-incumbency with the Chief Minister’s promises on reconstructing roads before the commencement of the Chardham Yatra having fallen flat, Rawat’s own constituency of Haridwar may not be affected – the town is located on the plains and remains a flourishing tourist economy despite the devastation in the rest of Uttarakhand’s religious tourism centres. In the Pauri Garhwal constituency, the Congress is slated to lose big. Sitting MP Satpal Maharaj, who won on a Congress ticket with a convincing 44.41 percent of the vote share, has switched to the BJP, a move that could impact the Congess in neighbouring seats too even though he is not contesting. Satpal is a veteran, a major player in the Uttarakhand statehood movement too. The contest this time is between BJP’s BC Khanduri and the Congress’s Harak Singh Rawat. In the 2012 Assembly election, Khanduri lost from Kotdwar, which is part of the Pauri Garhwal LS constituency. Harak Singh Rawat is the sitting MLA from the Rudrapryag Assembly seat and a state government minister. Khanduri, an ex-serviceman himself, is expected to win the support of the 40,00-plus ex-servicemen votes in the region. Harak SIngh Rawat, pegged as a keen election strategist, entered the fray somewhat late and after some convincing from party members, but put up a good show in his inuagural rally attended by the chief minister, indicating that even if the more senior Khanduri eventually wins, it will not be without a keen fight. In Tehri Garhwal, the sitting MP belongs to the BJP, Maharani Mala Rajyalakshmi, who won a bypoll in 2012, despite the Congress fielding former CM Vijay Bahuguna’s son Saket, indication of just how strong the anti-Congress mood is in this seat. Almora is set to see a repeat of the 2009 contest – Pradeep Tamta of the Congress who won in 2009 versus Ajay Tamta of the BJP, who lost by a small margin.