The Hardwar
Rural constituency in Uttarakhand was won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in
the 2017 assembly elections in the state. BJP leader Yatishvaranand defeated Congress
candidate Harish Rawat by a margin of 12,278 votes.

Hardwar
Rural is part of the Haridwar district and is one of the 14 assembly seats
under the Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2019 General Elections, Ramesh
Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ was elected MP from the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat after
defeating Congress’ Ambrish Kumar by a margin of 2,58,729 votes.

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The BJP dominated
the assembly elections in 2017, winning 57 out of the total 70 assembly seats
in Uttarakhand to form an absolute majority and replace the Congress-led
coalition government. Trivendra Singh Rawat, who was elected MLA from the
Doiwala constituency after defeating Congress candidate Hira Singh by 24,869
votes, was made chief minister.

The Congress
came second with just 11 seats, while independent candidates won two constituencies.

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In the 2012
assembly elections, the Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 32
seats and formed the government with the help of the Progressive Democratic
Front – consisting of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) and Independents.
The BJP won 31 seats.

Vijay Bahuguna
was sworn-in as chief minister. He resigned from the post in 2014 and was
replaced by Harish Rawat, who served until President’s rule was imposed in 2016.

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Quick facts
about the Hardwar Rural assembly seat:

Name of the
assembly constituency, district: Hardwar Rural, Haridwar

Name of the
winner, party: Yatishvaranand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Lok Sabha
constituency: Haridwar

Date of voting: February 14, 2022

Date of counting: March 10, 2022

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Top candidates 2022: Yatishvaranand (BJP), Naresh Sharma (AAP)

Top 3
candidates 2017: Yatishvaranand (BJP), Harish Rawat (INC), Mukarram (BSP)

Sitting
MLA, party: Yatishvaranand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Winning
margin in 2017: 12,278

Runner up
name, party: Harish Rawat, INC

Number of
voters in 2017: 1,20,195

Percentage
of votes polled in 2017: 81.76%