Congress eyes gains as 70% vote in Uttarakhand

The high rate of polling indicated that people may have given a clear mandate.

Defying cold,some 70 per cent people cast their votes in Uttarakhand on Monday. The high rate of polling indicated that people may have given a clear mandate.

In case it is in favour of a change of guard,the BJP could be headed for a rout,capped by a personal defeat of its poll-mascot,Chief Minister B C Khanduri in his Kotdwar seat. Reports from Kotdwar said the electorate was polarised between Khanduri and his Congress rival Surendra Singh Negi along caste-lines with arithmetic favouring the latter. There were also reports of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and his confidante,BJP MLA Shailendra Singh Rawat,working for his defeat. Khanduri had shifted to Kotdwar after his own Dhumakot constituency was merged with Lansdowne seat following delimitation.

The consolidation of a pro-Congress trend implied that even marginal seats were going its way. BJP poll-managers were a worried lot on Monday evening,trying to figure out what the high poll percentage meant for the partys candidates.

The alternative scenario,though less probable,could be that people had turned out in large numbers to give Khanduri,who has a clean image and high personal credibility,a fresh five-year shot at power.

A total of 788 candidates are in the fray for 70 constituencies. They include Nishank,Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat,PCC chief Yashpal Arya,and Congress MP Satpal Maharajs wife Amrita Rawat.

Polling was about 10 per cent in the first two hours but as the day progressed,people turned out in large numbers.

Khanduri had pleaded with the Election Commission to defer polling in snow-clad areas till mid-February. Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi had rejected the request saying everything had been taken into consideration before working out the schedule.

Story continues below this ad

The weather during the beginning of the election process was so hostile that even the CM had to abandon his vehicle and walk for about 10 km in snow to file his nomination papers.

The BJP has 36 MLAs in the outgoing Assembly,the Congress has 20,BSP eight,and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal three. Three are Independents. While the BJP had mounted an effective campaign focussing on Khanduris image,the Congress counted on anti-incumbency. The BJP tried to beat incumbency by denying tickets to one-third of its MLAs but not without a cost,as atleast three of them jumped into the fray in Badrinath,Karnprayag and Tharali.

Nishank was suspected of trying to sabotage party prospects in a dozen constituencies to block Khanduris return. The Congress had put up Hira Singh Bisht against Nishank in Doiwala amid reports that the former was disinclined to contest from there. Bisht had nursed another Dehradun constituency,Rajpur. Rawat,who could have made the fight tougher for Nishank,had been moved by the Congress to Rudraprayag.

Meanwhile,BJP leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and R Ramakrishna submitted a memorandum to the EC on Monday,demanding an inquiry against Congress candidate Negi in Kotdwar. Sitharaman alleged violations of The Representation of the People Act by Negi during the last 48 hours. She said,Negi had held processions,gheraoed Kotdwar police station and gone into the police station by force,broken furniture,and along with drunken followers abused the Chief Minister.