Voting begins at 8am in Uttarakhand’s 70 parliamentary constituencies on Monday.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking to retain power in the mountains while Congress hopes to make a comeback. After the state was spun off from Uttar Pradesh in 2000 under former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, both Congress and the BJP have struggled with battling political instability in the state.
The BJP is tasked with twinning – to defeat the electoral trend against incumbents and the incumbent who voted in the state. By the way, Uttarakhand has seen 11 chief ministers in the past 20 years.
As per established norms, campaigning in these states ends at 6 p.m. Saturday (February 12).
The BJP has stationed 11 cabinet ministers and state unit chairman Madan Kaushik. Incumbent Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dami is running for a third Hatima parliamentary seat and faces Congress nominee Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.
Congress veteran Harish Rawat is running for a new parliamentary seat after losing three consecutive elections. He is running for Lalkuwa.
A newcomer to Uttarakhand politics, the Aam Aadmi party has fielded candidates in all 70 parliamentary seats with the face of chief minister Ajay Kothiyal.
Voting also began in Goa and parts of Uttar Pradesh for the second phase of the election at 7am on Monday. Counting will take place on March 10.
Complete News Source : Business Standard
