Uttarakhand : Caste equation was taken care of, BJP did wonders by making 15 new candidates
After months of surveys and a long struggle to find the winning faces, the BJP finally declared 59 of its 70 candidates just before the nomination process began. Out of these 59, 15 faces are new, but the number of MLAs who were members of the fourth assembly whose tickets have been cut is only nine. These include eight MLAs from BJP and one MLA from Congress. Due to the death of the MLA of one seat, the BJP has changed the candidate there. In three seats, the party has fielded kin of members of the fourth assembly this time, while two of its MLAs are now in the Congress. Six tickets have been given to women, but the tickets of three sitting women MLAs have also been cut. BJP has tried its best to address caste and social equations in ticket distribution.
This time in Uttarakhand, BJP is trying to break the myth of change of power every time in the last four assembly elections, it has also set a target of winning more than 60 seats. Not only this, the challenge before him is to repeat his own performance in the 2017 elections. Then the BJP got a historic majority by winning 57 out of 70 seats. In a way, its own past performance has become a benchmark for the BJP. Despite being a small state, the BJP attaches great importance to Uttarakhand, that is why the BJP did not shy away from taking steps like change of leadership in the government twice or twice in the election year. Surveys conducted in several phases for candidate selection were also a part of this strategy.
If we assess the first list of BJP, it shows the hard work being done by the party leadership for the last several months, but also shows the impression of quick decisions. In view of the performance of about one and a half to two dozen BJP MLAs in the survey of about six months ago, the sword was hanging on their tickets, but then by the time the elections came, the party did not get their strong options on the seats of many such MLAs. This figure was reduced to less than half of it. In the first list announced on Thursday, new faces have got a chance in 15 seats. However, this happened due to different reasons and the change in six seats cannot be linked to ticket cancellation.
BJP has fielded such new candidates this time in the three seats won in the fourth assembly, who are the relatives of the leaders who were MLAs of this seat. Savita Kapoor has been given ticket for Dehradun Cantt seat, she is the wife of former Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor, who was the MLA of this seat. Kapoor passed away recently. Similarly, the party has fielded BJP MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion from Khanpur seat in Haridwar district, his wife Rani Devyani and his son Trilok Singh Cheema instead of MLA Harbhajan Singh Cheema from Kashipur seat in Udham Singh Nagar district. Yashpal Arya was elected BJP MLA last time from Bajpur seat of Udham Singh Nagar district and his son Sanjeev Arya from Nainital, but he is now in Congress. In these two seats, BJP gave chance to new faces.
The BJP cut the tickets of nine members of the state’s fourth assembly this time. The most interesting case among them was that of Rajkumar who won the last election from Purola seat as a Congress candidate. Rajkumar recently switched from Congress to BJP, but Durgeshwarlal was successful in snatching the ticket at the last moment. Durgeshwarlal had contested the last election as an independent from Purola seat and secured more than 13 thousand votes. He joined the BJP on Thursday itself and after a few hours got a ticket and hit the ground. Among the nine sitting BJP MLAs who had to be left heartbroken this time include the name of Raghunath Chauhan from Almora, who was the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.
Apart from these, Ritu Khandudi Bhushan, daughter of former Chief Minister Bhuvanchandra Khandudi, has been nominated for Yamkeshwar seat, Mukesh Koli from Pauri seat, Surendra Singh Negi from Karnprayag, Balwant Singh Bhoryal from Kapkot, Mahesh Negi from Dwarahat, Meena Gangola from Gangolihat, Munni Devi from Tharali. This time it was decided not to give tickets. Due to the death of Gopal Rawat, the MLA of Gangotri seat of Uttarkashi district, the party has given an opportunity to a new face this time. In all, BJP has given tickets to three women members of the fourth assembly and also gave tickets to six women in the first list. As far as caste and social equations are concerned, out of the 59 candidates, 11 are from Scheduled Castes and two from Scheduled Tribes reserved seats. Apart from this, about 13 candidates represent Brahmins, 21 Rajputs and 10 to 12 Vaishyas and Punjabi communities.
