In the humiliating defeat, the Congress pays for ignoring the regional stalwarts
Pramod Kumar
The ‘BJP Wave’ in Uttarakhand decimated the ruling Congress Party to the extent that it does not find even a strong face to lead the Opposition. All party heavyweights lost badly. Chief Minister Harish Rawat contested from two separate constituencies—Kichcha and Haridwar Rural—but lost both. State Congress president Kishore Upadhyaya also could not save his seat. The Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), which dreamed of emerging as a kingmaker in case of the hung Assembly, could not open its account.
Altogether, 637 candidates, including 56 women, contested 70 seats in the polls held on February 15. Out of the total 70 seats, the BJP won 57 seats and the Congress was reduced to merely 11 from the 32 seats that it had won in 2012. Two seats have gone to independents. The BJP had won 31 seats in 2012. As far as vote percentage is concerned, the BJP garnered 47 per cent votes and the Congress got 34 per cent. Others got 19 per cent.
Since its inception in 2001, no party could manage to retain power in Uttarakhand. Though, the Congress and BJP alternated power, the margin of victory or defeat was never so large as witnessed this time.
The landslide victory of the BJP is being seen as another step towards ‘Congress-Free Bharat’, the slogan coined and widely used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during 2014 general elections. The political analysts feel that the Congress had to face this humiliation now because of the misdeeds of its own leaders. Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s autocratic style of functioning hugely irritated the party stalwarts and when the national leadership failed to reign in the dictator CM, they decided to leave it. This is the reason that about a dozen senior Congress leaders and legislators including Yashpal Arya, Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh and two former Chief Ministers ND Tewari and Vijay Bahuguna left the party prior to polls.
The Bahuguna-led rebellion in early 2016 was a warning bell But it took no lesson from that. When the Supreme Court upheld Harish Rawat”s claims of becoming Chief Minister, the Congress widely planned to garner people’s sympathy. But the internal strife in the party and a tussle between Harish Rawat and State party president Kishore Upadhyaya could not keep the party’s rank and file together. Even then Harish Rawat tried to overplay the victim card, but didn”t do enough to convince the voters that his government would act in the best interests of the State. And instead of focusing on development of the State, he continued playing divisive politics, pitting one community against another, one region against another region and of course the hill people against the plain people.
This poll outcome raises a big question mark over the kind of politics Harish Rawat promoted in the State. It also raised a question over his political future. Moreover, given the CBI is probing his involvement in a scam following a sting operation, his survival may become further tougher.
This landslide victory has a message for the BJP also. It has to perform at all fronts. “The Prime Minister has himself made the agenda of the new government clear during his welcome speech delivered at Party headquarters in New Delhi on March 12. He stressed on humility on the part of all party workers. The government has to ensure that all sections of the society feel empowered and the fruits of power should reach to all. If we are able to truly materialise the words of Prime Minister Shri Modi, I hope the party will perform even better in the days to come,” said former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Bhagat Singh Koshiyari while talking to Organiser.
Undisputedly, the expectations from the BJP are very high. The people of the State have voted it for development and good governance. And to rise up to the expectations of the people is the foremost responsibility of the new government. n
