BJP set for a consecutive term in Uttarakhand

The BJP is set to retain Uttarakhand, winning an emphatic pro-incumbency vote in a state notorious for throwing out governments every five years. The party is leading in 48 of the hill state’s 70 seats, well over the majority mark of 36. 

The Congress is well behind, leading only at 18 seats, thus turning what was expected to be a close contest into a one-sided affair. 

This is not the BJP’s best performance in the state; it had won 57 seats in 2017. But it is a significant victory as this is the first time that a party will get a second consecutive term since the state came into being in the year 2000. 

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The only worry at the moment is the individual performance of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is trailing behind Bhuwan Chandra Kapri of the Congress by 5000 votes. 

Other prominent candidates trailing in their respective seats include Congress veteran and the face of the party’s campaign Harish Rawat, who is trailing behind Mohan Singh Bisht of the BJP in Lalkuan and Subodh Uniyal of the BJP trailing behind Om Gopal Rawat of the Congress in Narendra Nagar.

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Yashpal Arya, who had returned to the Congress from the BJP ahead of the polls, is also trailing behind the BJP’s Rajesh Kumar in Bajpur by 18587 votes.

Opoyi’s poll of polls, based on an average of 11 exit polls released earlier this week, showed the BJP winning between 32 and 38 seats and the Congress between 29 and 34 seats.  In the case of a hung assembly, with no party getting a majority, smaller players like Arvind Kejriwal‘s Aam Aadmi Party, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal as well as independents will be in play. Now, BJP has claimed its place in the state.