BJP scores massive victory in Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is expected to tender his resignation at around 3 pm at the Raj Bhawan Dehradun, after facing defeat in the assembly polls.

Khajan Dass of BJP won Rajpur Road defeating Rajkumar of Congress by 8,632 votes.

Sting Operation: In April 2016, chief minister Harish Rawat was caught red-handed in a sting operation, released by then opposition BJP, purportedly showing the CM offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand assembly. Kunwar Paranav Singh Champion, Subodh Uniyal, Harak Singh Rawat, Pradeep Batra, Umesh Sharma Kau and Rekha Arya all won from their respective seats to further swell the BJP’s tally.

Saurabh Bahuguna, who along with his father Vijay Bahuguna – former Chief Minister – had quit the Congress to contest on a BJP ticket from Sitarganj constituency, secured 50,597 votes, while Malti Biswas of Congress stood second with 22,147 votes. BJP supporters began cracking crackers and distributing candies as the party took an unprecedented lead. “I have said this earlier also that we need to build up new leadership in states”.

Ten out of the 12 Congress leaders, who had joined the BJP ahead of the elections, emerged victorious. While Rawat can at least manoeuvre his way around, Upadhyaya might find it hard to create his political space in the coming months. Appearing before the cameras after the drubbing, Mr Rawat owned responsibility for the “poor” show, attributing the Congress being decimated to “flaws in his own leadership”.

Summary: DEHRADUN: With BJP registering a thumping victory in Uttarakhand, speculation was rife on Saturday about the choice for the chief ministerial candidate with the choice narrowing down to two senior leaders – Satpal Maharaj and Trivendra Singh Rawat, as per sources.Party leaders however refused to confirm any names.

Rawat’s political journey shows he has always been a dogged fighter who had to slog for everything he earned in politics and managed to nearly emerge unscathed from the worst of situations. A politically astute Brahmin leader, she has no love lost for Rawat, and fresh wounds might soon open up within the Congress. Interestingly, Suresh Chand Jain had quit BJP after the party had made a decision to give tickets to Congress “rebels”. A ruthless BJP regime, with its agenda of a “Congress-mukt Bharat”, might plug the slightest openings the Congress may hope for.

When reporters asked if he was hinting at tampering of EVMs, he said he did not say anything like this.