BJP gains in Uttarakhand polls but Congress' Harish Rawat as people's first choice as CM?

Dehradun, October 3, 2021, Friday

When elections are to be held in Uttarakhand in the year 2022, a survey conducted by a news channel has raised the possibility of a BJP government again. Surprisingly, however, Harish Rawat, the former Congress chief minister, is considered the first choice of the people as the most popular chief minister. There is a BJP government in Uttarakhand, a small tourist state, but the popular face of the Chief Minister seems to be the opposition, with six chief ministers being replaced in just three years. According to the survey, Harish Rawat was favored by 4% while BJP's Pushkar Dhami was favored by 3%.

However, the decision to change the chief minister in Uttarakhand, considered a land of gods, is a matter of years for the BJP and the Congress. After the separation of the state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh, it is rare for a party chief minister to complete five years in a row. That is why the survey shows that BJP's popularity has been maintained despite the change of six chief ministers. According to the survey, in the current political scenario, the ruling BJP is likely to get 6 per cent, the Congress 4 per cent and the Aam Aadmi Party, which is ruling in Delhi, 12 per cent. If the percentage of third party votes is obtained with the other party, then the percentage is more than 5% of the first party.

Therefore, if there is a three-party election battle, the BJP seems to benefit from the distribution of votes. Others share as much as 5 per cent of the votes, which is normal and expected. The impact of the Koro epidemic is not apparent, given the BJP government's blindness in the news channel's survey. As Uttarakhand is a tourist destination, the main source of employment and income is on tourists. The travel and hotel industry collapsed in Corona. Public life in Uttarakhand seems to be back on track with the recent decline in the number of corona infections. With the decline in corona, tourists have also started arriving.