NEW DELHI: People of Uttarakhand are voting on Monday to elect their new government. Over 81 lakh voters in 70 Assembly constituencies will decide the political fate of 632 candidates, which include over 150 independents.
In 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 57 of the 70 seats. The Congress won 11 and two independents won from their Assembly segments.
Since its formation in 2000, power in Uttarakhand has changed every five years between the BJP and Congress. In this year, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also trying to make its presence felt in the state by fielding candidates from all the 70 Assembly constituencies.
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), the party which had initiated and led the struggle for formation of a separate hill state from Uttar Pradesh, is hoping to revive its political fortunes in this year's Assembly polls.
The ruling BJP is trying to reverse the trend that the government changes every five years in the state. The high voltage campaign ended with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami promising implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand after winning the Assembly election.
The ruling BJP is seeking votes on development and has warned the voters against the appeasement policy of Congress. While the main opposition Congress has raised the problems of inflation, unemployment and leadership issues within the BJP, which resulted in the replacement of two chief ministers within four months. The AAP is trying to win people's support by offering freebies.
The prominent candidates of BJP are Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, his cabinet colleagues Dhan Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Yatishwarananda, Subodh Uniyal, Ganesh Joshi, Rekha Arya and state BJP president Madan Kaushik. Former Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay is trying his luck this time on a BJP ticket. On the Congress front, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, former minister Yashpal Arya, state unit president Ganesh Godiyal and Leader of Opposition in the fourth assembly Pritam Singh are trying their luck.