Mixed Bag for BJP in U'khand as Saffron Wave Sweeps Hill State But 'Poster Boy' CM Pushkar Dhami Loses

It’s a bitter-sweet victory for the BJP in Uttarakhand as the saffron party swept the state but its “poster boy”, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, lost from the Khatima seat.

Dhami, who was up against Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri, had previously won the seat in 2012 and 2017. The 10th chief minister of the hill state, Dhami was sworn in after the resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat on July 3, 2021, becoming the youngest CM of Uttarakhand at the age of 45.

The BJP had to change two chief ministers to pacify the dissenting MLAs and finally entered the election with Dhami’s face.

Experts believed that Dhami, a relatively inexperienced leader, was made the CM as in the 2022 assembly polls, the BJP had decided to focus more on the Kumaon region where the Opposition Congress has been dominant. In the 2017 polls the BJP had won 34 seats in the Garhwal region, which was just two short of the majority mark in the state.

Dhami belongs to the Thakur community, and the saffron party, by choosing him as the next CM, sought to balance caste and regional equations ahead of the polls.

The Uttarakhand chief minister started his political career in the BJP student wing — Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He served as the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha till 2008. As a former president of the BJP youth wing, Dhami enjoyed good rapport with the young cadre.

On Tuesday, Dhami exuded confidence that the BJP would put up a great show in Uttarakhand. “The people of Uttarakhand have voted for BJP on the basis of development and government welfare schemes for the poor in the pandemic. As the exit polls have hinted, we will have a comfortable majority. In fact, the number of seats could be higher,” Dhami said.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Dhami said: “I want to thank the people of Uttarakhand. We did development work. People have given us a mandate, which shows that people have prioritised those who work.”

He added: “I was nowhere in the race but was given a chance by my leadership, history has been written today. We promised Uniform Civil Code and we will complete all our promises. About Uniform Civil Code, we already have said that we will form a high power committee, this committee will present a draft.”

Apart from Dhami, senior Congress leader Harish Rawat also lost the elections from the Lal Kuan constituency by a huge margin in yet another setback for the grand old party.

In a social media post, Rawat conceded that he has lost and only a formal announcement by the poll body remains.

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#लालकुआं विधानसभा क्षेत्र से मेरी चुनावी पराजय की औपचारिक घोषणा ही बाकी है। मैं लालकुआं क्षेत्र के लोगों से जिनमें बिंदुखत्ता, बरेली रोड के सभी क्षेत्र सम्मिलित हैं, क्षमा चाहता हूं कि मैं उनका विश्वास अर्जित नहीं कर पाया और जो चुनावी वादे उनसे मैंने किये, उनको पूरा करने का मैंने अवसर गवा दिया है, बहुत अल्प समय में आपने मेरी तरफ स्नेह का हाथ बढ़ाने का प्रयास किया। मैं अपने आपको आपके बड़े हुए हाथ

– Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) 10 Mar 2022