DEHRADUN: Polling for the 5 Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand can be held on Friday with the BJP aiming to retain the seats for a 3rd time and the Congress trying to regain misplaced floor within the state. Voting will start at 7 am throughout 11,729 polling stations and proceed till 5 pm, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande mentioned. The BJP gained all of the 5 seats in Uttarakhand in 2014 and 2019 normal elections.
The 5 seats going to polls on Friday are Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and the lone reserved seat of Almora. More than 83 lakh voters will determine the destiny of 55 candidates within the fray. Sitting BJP MPs Ajay Bhatt, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah and Ajay Tamta have been fielded by the social gathering from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, Tehri Garhwal and Almora, respectively.
The BJP has changed its candidates in Haridwar and Pauri Garhwal. Former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is contesting instead of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from Haridwar and Anil Baluni instead of Tirath Singh Rawat from Pauri Garhwal. The Congress has fielded former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal from Pauri Garhwal, former chief minister Harish Rawat’s son Virendra Rawat from Haridwar, Jot Singh Gunsola from Tehri Garhwal, Prakash Joshi from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar and Pradeep Tamta from Almora.
Candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and comparatively smaller outfits and Independents are additionally within the fray however straight contests are possible between conventional rivals — the BJP and Congress — in all of the seats. Campaigning for the primary section of Lok Sabha elections ended on Wednesday night.
The almost month-long marketing campaign, which began gathering momentum solely a fortnight in the past, noticed the BJP’s star campaigners, together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, social gathering nationwide president J P Nadda and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, maintain a collection of election rallies and highway reveals in several elements of the state.
The Congress’ star campaigners had been lacking from the panorama till April 13 when social gathering normal secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addressed her first ballot rallies in Ramnagar and Roorkee in help of her social gathering’s candidates from Haridwar, Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar and Pauri Garhwal seats. She requested the folks to vote for change and accused the Modi authorities of doing nothing besides mendacity to the folks previously 10 years.
“Vote wisely. Otherwise, your daily struggles will continue for another five years,” she warned. The BJP leaders alternatively sought one other time period for Modi to construct a developed India of which Uttarakhand is a necessary half and highlighted the steps taken by the BJP-led NDA authorities during the last 10 years to strengthen highway, rail and air connectivity infrastructure within the state.
Political consultants right here really feel that whereas the BJP’s promise of a steady authorities within the hill state may reach wooing voters to once more select the saffron social gathering, there’s resentment amongst folks resulting from unemployment, inflation and continued migration from the hills.
Some seats like Pauri Garhwal and Haridwar may additionally witness a tricky combat between the BJP and the Congress, they mentioned. Congress candidate Godiyal has aggressively campaigned and mentioned the competition in Pauri Garhwal is between an insider (himself) and outsider (Baluni). His ballot conferences additionally drew massive crowds.
The consultants added that Haridwar’s demography, which has substantial minority and Dalit votes, can also not be a cakewalk for BJP’s Trivendra Rawat regardless of his benefit over his rival when it comes to expertise as Congress veteran Harish Rawat, who had gained the seat in 2009, is leaving no stone unturned to make sure his son’s victory from the seat.
“If the Modi factor works again as it did in 2014 and 2019 overriding all other factors, the BJP will obviously reap the benefits but if unemployment, inflation, continued migration from the hills and performance of BJP MPs over the past 10 years outweigh the national issues, the Congress will gain,” political analyst Jaisingh Rawat mentioned.
