More than 2.5 lakh voters from military background will be decisive in Uttarakhand, competition to woo political parties

Uttarakhand being a military dominated state, the politics here has also been around military voters. During the Lok Sabha elections, once again families with military background are on the lips of politicians. Every party is trying to portray itself as a well-wisher of the soldiers. The special thing is that the highest number of service voters is in Pauri Lok Sabha seat. In this seat, issues related to service voters, ex-servicemen and their families are also on the lips of politicians.

Uttarakhand is a military dominated state

In Uttarakhand, many topics related to honoring soldiers have been appearing in political programs. Be it big platforms of parties or important posts, ex-servicemen have been getting attention everywhere. The direct reason for this is Uttarakhand being a military dominated state. Perhaps this is the reason why political parties take up issues related to patriotism in the state. Even during the Lok Sabha elections, service voters and ex-servicemen are visible on the agenda of political parties. That is why while on one hand the opposition parties are raising some issues related to the army, on the other hand the BJP is counting the list of major changes made in the army. Let us tell you what is the situation regarding military voters in Uttarakhand.

Military voters in uttarakhand

• The number of service voters in Uttarakhand is around 93,385.
• Pauri district has the highest number of service voters, 15,999.
• The number of service voters, ex-servicemen and their families in the state is more than 2 lakh 57 thousand.
• In this respect, maximum number of voters are present in Dehradun district.
• About 13% of the total voters have military background.
• Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress have also given place to ex-servicemen in their organizations.
• Till now, BJP has been the first choice of voters with military background.

BJP has been the first choice of soldiers

Till now Bharatiya Janata Party has been considered the first choice of voters with military background in Uttarakhand. This seems to be clear in the results of the last elections also. But leaving history behind, Congress now understands the importance of these voters and does not want to be left behind in its efforts to woo them. Perhaps that is why during the Lok Sabha elections, Congress candidates are busy in rekindling the issue like Agniveer. Not only this, issues related to the problems of ex-servicemen are also being raised in the elections. State Vice President of Congress, Mathura Dutt Joshi says that Bharatiya Janata Party has also been adding the works of other parties to its account. The UPA government had taken an important decision in the matter of One Rank One Pension. But the Bharatiya Janata Party government caused loss to the soldiers by bringing inconsistency in the decisions taken. Apart from this, efforts are being made to weaken the army through Agniveer and the youth are also being kept away from permanent employment.

There are about 94 thousand military voters in Uttarakhand

Talking about service voters in Uttarakhand, maximum number of service voters are in Pauri district. After this, Pithoragarh district is at second place. There are 14,353 service voters in Pithoragarh district. Chamoli district is at third place, here also there are 10,372 service voters. If seen this way, the top 3 districts are hilly and there are a good number of ex-servicemen here. However, if we look at the total number of service voters and their family members including ex-servicemen, then Dehradun district has the highest number of voters from military background. A total of more than 34,900 such voters are living in Dehradun. In this matter also, Pauri district is at second place, where more than 30,000 of these voters live.

These are the demands of military voters

If we look at the issues of the voters related to military background, there are many needs in the form of their problems or facilities, which have been demanded. This also includes the demand for opening CSD canteens in the hilly districts. Apart from this, setting up of District Sainik Welfare Offices in different cities, setting up of Sainik Hospital in every district for health services and construction of Sainik Rest House are included.

Congress raised the issue of Agniveer

Various programs of Bharatiya Janata Party have also been attracting voters from military background. Recently, Bharatiya Janata Party had laid the foundation stone of Military Dham in Dehradun. Not only this, an attempt was also made to win the hearts of such voters by talking about making the military Dham the fifth Dham of the state. Not only this, Martyr Samman Yatra was also taken out across the state. However, Congress has also been giving various types of reactions on these issues. During the elections, Congress has tried to corner the BJP government by raising the issue of Agniveer. Apart from this, Congress has been doing everything from organizing military conferences to giving place to ex-servicemen on the platform of big leaders like Rahul Gandhi.

Attempts are made to woo the soldiers

People of Uttarakhand have always been interested in issues related to patriotism and political parties, understanding this atmosphere of the state, have been working to move their politics in this direction. Topics related to military welfare have also been included in the manifestos of political parties. Political parties have also proved this by creating military cells. Not only this, Bhuvanchandra Khanduri and TPS Rawat, who are associated with the army, have been included among the stalwarts of politics in the state. From the point of view of Lok Sabha elections, three Lok Sabha seats of the state are considered very important for such voters. These include Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha, Tehri Lok Sabha seat and Almora Lok Sabha seat.