Panchayat elections: The reputation of these bigwigs of BJP and Congress is at stake, the picture will be clear on July 31Panchayat elections: The reputation of these bigwigs of BJP and Congress is at stake, the picture will be clear on July 31

Be it BJP or Congress in Uttarakhand, the Panchayat elections are going to be a litmus test for the stalwarts of both the parties. For the formation of a small government in 12 district panchayats, the BJP has claimed a strategy on the lines of the municipal elections.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, along with his associate ministers and the state organization, is holding the helm of his party in the three-tier panchayats. At the same time, the Congress has relied more on satraps to capitalize on this opportunity to break the fortifications of the ruling party and strengthen its penetration in the villages.

The prestige of state president Karan Mahara, Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya along with former Chief Minister Harish Rawat and former state president Pritam Singh and Ganesh Godiyal is also linked to this election. The parties are waiting for the election results to be declared on July 31.

The Panchayat elections were completed on Monday in two phases in the remaining 12 districts except Haridwar in the state. Now after the declaration of election results after two days, that is on next Thursday, it will also be revealed that which party is going to dominate in the three-tier panchayats or the threat of independents will increase.

The parties have not directly contested the elections for the formation of a small government in the panchayats. Be it BJP or Congress, all bet on supported candidates.

It is a different matter that every party gave priority to its cadre and loyal workers as supported candidates. The election result will also decide how strong the hold of which party and leader is on the voters in rural areas.

There is going to be a tough fight between the parties in the district panchayats. At present, elections of members have been held in the district panchayats. Later, these members will elect the district panchayat president. The area panchayat members elected in the area panchayats will also elect the block pramukh.

In this battle, the strength of 44 MLAs of BJP versus 15 MLAs of Congress will be known. To form a small government in the panchayats, the stalwarts of both the parties have made many moves on the pretext of supported candidates.

To ensure victory of the supported candidates, the Congress entrusted the responsibility to the MLAs as well as the satraps who advocated for the ticket. Like the municipal elections, the State Congress Coordination Committee played an important role in finalizing the list of candidates in the Panchayat elections as well.

The party high command has not yet handed over the new state executive to State Congress President Karan Mahara, but has definitely handed over the command of the coordination committee. Almost all the big leaders and MLAs are included in the committee.

In BJP, Chief Minister Dhami has given a sharp edge to the Panchayat elections. During both the phases of voting, the Chief Minister remained active in both the divisions Garhwal and Kumaon. The results of the Panchayat elections will also prove to be important for his cabinet colleagues as in-charge of the districts.

This will also show how rural voters can be wooed before the 2027 assembly elections. This was the reason that all the BJP MPs were seen contacting in rural areas during the elections.