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Tag: Uttarakhand Assembly polls

  • Harish Rawat expresses embarrassment over failure to guide party to victory in Uttarakhand

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Congress’ poll campaign head for Uttarakhand Harish Rawat on Sunday expressed anguish and an acute sense of embarrassment over his failure to guide the party to victory in the state assembly election, saying he could not rise to the expectations of the party leadership that had reposed its trust in him.

    In a Facebook post hours before he left for Delhi to attend a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Rawat, who also lost from the Lalkuwa seat, said he did not know how he would face party chief Sonia Gandhi.

    ”How much trust she had in me. All the top leaders of Congress had so much trust in me. All of them expected me to bring the Congress back to power. There must have been some shortcoming on my part because of which I could not meet their expectations,” the 73-year-old former chief minister said.

    “The reality is we haven’t just lost but our loss has also thrown up several dangerous indications,” Rawat said.

    However, Rawat said the party should think of overcoming the challenges lying ahead.

    “We don’t just have to come to power. I believe Congress is the only party that can attain a pan-India presence and emerge as a strong democratic alternative to the BJP.”

    “Some piecemeal efforts are being made by some people in that direction but unlike the Congress, they don’t have it in their DNA,” Rawat said.

    “But we are politically falling short of something and failing to win the confidence of people again and again. Those who have faith in constitutional democracy have their eyes fixed on the Congress,” he said.

    The Congress, which fought under the leadership of Rawat, won just 19 seats against BJP’s 47 out of a total of 70 assembly seats, with political observers attributing the loss to factionalism in the opposition party besides other factors.

    The CWC met on Sunday to discuss the party’s poll debacle in five states.

    “I pray to the almighty to light a ray of hope in the thickening darkness and show the way that leads to the emergence of Congress as a democratic alternative at the national level,” Rawat said.

  • Uttarakhand polls: Congress turncoats do well, daughters of 2 former CMs avenge defeat of their fathers

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Two Congress turncoats emerged victorious while the daughters of two former chief ministers avenged the defeat of their fathers in the Uttarakhand assembly polls.

    Former Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay and former pradesh mahila Congress president Sarita Arya won their respective seats of Tehri and Nainital.

    Sarita Arya defeated prominent Dalit leader from Kumaon region Yashpal Arya’s son and sitting Congress MLA Sanjiv Arya from Nainital while Upadhyay defeated Dinesh Dhanai of the Congres by 951 votes from Tehri.

    Upadhyay had joined the BJP after he was denied a ticket by the Congress.

    Though Congress poll campaign head Harish Rawat himself lost from Lakuwa, his daughter Anupama Rawat won the Haridwar rural seat by defeating cabinet minister Yatishwaranand by 4,472 votes.

    Former chief minister and BJP leader Bhuvan Chandrda Khanduri’s daughter Ritu Khanduri Bhushan avenged her father’s humiliation in Kotdwar as she defeated Surendra Singh Negi of the Congress by 3,687 votes.

    Khanduri had lost from Kotdwar in 2012 and Harish Rawat from Haridwar rural in 2017 when the two stalwarts had contested from the seats as incumbent chief ministers.

    However, Harak Singh Rawat’s daughter-in-Law Anukriti Gusain Rawat lost to sitting MLA Daleep Singh Rawat of the BJP in Lansdowne by 9,868 votes.

  • Pushkar Singh Dhami: Played like MS Dhoni but gave away own wicket cheaply

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has compared Pushkar Singh Dhami to cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

    Dhami, he said, is a “good finisher”.

    Dhami was plucked out of obscurity by the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership last July to be made the Uttarakhand chief minister, with just months to go before the party faced the assembly elections.

    He also happened to be is party’s second CM replacement in 2021 – earlier Trivendra Singh Rawat was made to make way for Tirath Singh Rawat.

    Dhami seems to have justified the BJP’s choice.

    The ruling party appears set to form the government in Uttarakhand again, the first time in the state’s 21-year history that a party will come to power for a second term in a row.

    But in his own Khatima constituency, Dhami lost by a margin of about 6,500 votes.

    At 45, he was the state’s youngest chief minister when he took over in July.

    The state was then grappling with a series of problems and with elections just round the corner and Dhami ran against the clock.

    The state’s economy was battered by Covid, the Char Dham priests were agitating against a new regulatory board, and a massive Covid testing scam had grabbed headlines.

    Like other BJP chief ministers, Dhami styled himself as the one who executed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “grand vision” for the state’s development through a “double-engine” government.

    Dhami is often regarded as protégé of Maharashtra Governor and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, whom he served as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and an adviser.

    He began his political career in 1990 with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

    He was the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha twice and campaigned for reservation of jobs in industries for the local youth.

    Dhami’s father retired as a subedar in Army.

    He was born in Pithoragarh’s Tundi village, after the family shifted there from its ancestral village Harkhola.

    When he was in class 5, they moved to Khatima, which was to become Dhami’s ‘karmabhoomi’.

    He won from there twice.

    Dhami graduated from Lucknow University in Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations, and also has a degree in law.

    While making the cricketing analogy Rajnath Singh reportedly said Dhami was working relentlessly as CM and needed to play a test match.

    But it is yet to be seen if the party will continue with him at the crease after giving away his own wicket cheaply.

  • Uttarakhand polls: Opposition’s Motto is ‘Divide and Loot’, says PM Narendra Modi

    By Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launching an attack on the opposition said that the opposition parties believe in the principle of ‘divide everyone, loot together’. 

    The PM was addressing ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ at in Almora. 

    The PM outlining the development works done by the BJP mentioning projects worth Rs 17,000 crores which were inaugurated in the state said that this decade belongs to Uttarakhand and urged people to vote for the BJP.

    PM Modi adding the central government has proposed ‘Parvatmala Scheme’ to build ropeways for hilly areas said that the BJP goverment in the center and the state have good intentions.

    “In this Union Budget, we have proposed ‘Parvatmala Scheme’ to build ropeways for hilly areas. We will build modern roadways and transport infrastructure in the state. This decade belongs to Uttarakhand, do not let this opportunity pass,” added the PM. 

    The PM also thanking the people and appreciating the gathering said that the huge turnout indicates that Uttarakhand has made up its mind about voting once again for the “double engine” government.

    Launching an attack on Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi the PM said that not a single Congress leader is coming to Uttarakhand only the brother-sister (Rahul Gandhi-Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) duo are campaigning because they don’t want to save the country, they only want to save a family (Gandhi family).

    “Only the duo of brother and sister come in Uttarakhand barring any other senior leader from the grand old party. This is because they don’t want to save the country, they just care about one family. Today, their own leaders do not want to be with the party. Then, how can they give anything to you?,” the PM said. 

  • EC warns Uttarakhand BJP to be more careful over morphed photo of Congress leader Harish Rawat

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) has warned the Uttarakhand BJP to be more careful in the future and advised it to follow all provisions of the poll code, days after it tweeted a morphed picture of Congress leader Harish Rawat.

    Last week, the poll panel had issued a notice to the Uttarakhand unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for tweeting a morphed image of former chief minister Rawat, in which he was shown as a Muslim cleric.

    An EC order issued on Wednesday said the Uttarakhand BJP has submitted that the purpose of the tweet was neither to violate any provisions of the Model Code of Conduct nor to create any differences between groups on the basis of religion, race, caste and language.

    CLICK HERE FOR COVERAGE ON UTTARAKHAND ELECTIONS

    It has also told the poll panel that the tweet has since been deleted from its official Twitter handle. The EC said it has not found the reply of the Uttarakhand BJP satisfactory.

    The order noted that an FIR has been lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Representation of the People Act in connection with a Facebook post, which “will follow its logical conclusion”.

    “Now, therefore, the Commission warns the Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttarakhand to be more careful in future and advises to follow all the provisions of Model Code of Conduct and other guidelines of the Commission in letter and spirit,” the order read.

    The 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on February 14 and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.

  • Uttarakhand’s development among top priorities of double engine government: PM Narendra Modi

    By PTI

    ALMORA: The development of Uttarakhand is among the top priorities of the BJP’s double engine government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday at a rally here for the February 14 assembly elections.

    He also said that infrastructure development in the state’s border villages is the BJP’s priority and people will benefit from the Parvatmala and the Vibrant Village projects. The prime minister announced that work on the Jamrani Dam project will start soon.

    CLICK HERE FOR COVERAGE ON UTTARAKHAND ELECTIONS

    The Manaskhand tourism circuit will be developed in the Kumaon region of the state on priority over the next five years, he said. While addressing the rally, Modi also said that the huge turnout indicates that Uttarakhand has made up its mind about voting once again for the “double engine” government.

    Polling will be held in the state in a single phase for the 70-member assembly.

  • Uttarakhand polls: Congress manifesto full of false promises, says BJP

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand BJP on Wednesday said the Congress manifesto released by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra here for the assembly polls in the state is full of false promises.

    Describing the manifesto as a “pack of lies”, Uttarakhand BJP president Madan Kaushik said the Congress has done exactly the opposite of what it has promised in the document while distributing tickets in the state for the elections.

    Despite promising to give 40 per cent of tickets to women, the party cancelled the candidatures of some women it had fielded, including Dalit candidate Barkha Rani and Sandhya Dalakoti from Lalkuan, Kaushik alleged.

    “Priyanka Gandhi should first explain this anomaly,” he added.

    Kaushik said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was here recently to announce that LPG prices will not be allowed to cross Rs 500 if the Congress was elected to power.

    “He should first explain why LPG cylinders are selling for Rs 1,000 in his state,” the BJP leader said.

    Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot comes here and talks about unemployment, but the unemployment rate in his state is higher than Uttarakhand, Kaushik added.

    In Rajasthan, the rate of unemployment is 20.3 per cent, while it is 5.6 per cent in Uttarakhand, the BJP leader said.

  • Uttarakhand polls: ‘You have to vote for good governance’, says Amit Shah in Rudraprayag

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a door-to-door campaign and addressed poll meetings in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district, appealing to people to bring the BJP back to power in the state to ensure good governance for another five years.

    Shah, who also offered prayers at the Rudranath temple, distributed pamphlets listing the work done by the BJP government during its tenure and what the party plans to do during the next five years if it returns to power. He also targeted the previous Congress dispensation, describing it as a government of corruption and scams.

    Addressing a gathering of ex-servicemen, Shah said, “You gave your blessings to us in 2014 and 2019 by giving all the five Lok Sabha seats to us. Then you gave us a massive mandate in 2017, giving us 57 out of the 70 assembly seats. You have seen the work done by us. You have to vote for good governance for another five years so that the big projects already underway are completed.”

    The minister said that the soldiers from Uttarakhand are protecting the frontiers of the country from Ladakh to Kutch with great valour and dedication and they have to show the same dedication in protecting democracy as well.

    Citing Chardham all-weather road, Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line, reconstruction of Kedarnath and Badrinath as major infrastructure projects on which substantial progress has been made in the last five years, Shah said a complete five-year tenure of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has the blessings of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, will see their completion.

    Dhami took over as the Uttarakhand chief minister in July last year as his predecessor Tirath Singh Rawat resigned months after taking charge as the head of the state. Shah described the former chief minister Harish Rawat-led Congress government as a government of corruption and scams.

    He also challenged Rawat, who is contesting from Lalkuan assembly constituency in Nainital district, to show the infrastructure work done during his tenure. The elections to the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly will be held on February 14.

    The counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.

  • Uttarakhand elections 2022: BJP fields ex-state Congress president Kishore Upadhyay from Tehri

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday named Kishore Upadhyay, a former state Congress president who joined it on Thursday, as its candidate from Tehri assembly seat in Uttarakhand. The party also fielded Brij Bhushan Gairola from Doiwala, from where former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is the sitting MLA but has expressed his unwillingness to contest the poll this time.

    ALSO READ| Uttarakhand polls: Congress fields former BJP leader Dhan Singh Negi from Tehri

    With the announcement, the BJP has now named all its candidates for the February 14 elections to the 70-member assembly. The BJP is in power in the state.

    Unhappy with shrinking space for him in the Congress, Upadhyay had joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister and the party’s election in-charge for Uttarakhand Pralhad Joshi and Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt.

  • Retired Colonel Vijay, brother of late CDS Bipin Rawat, not to contest Uttarakhand Assembly polls

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Gen Bipin Rawat’s younger brother Col (retd) Vijay Rawat, who recently joined the BJP, on Sunday said he is not contesting the upcoming assembly polls in Uttarakhand.

    Col Rawat said he was asked by party leaders to contest but he said no to them.

    Asked what if they insist on fielding him, he said 99 per cent chances are that he would politely refuse.

    “I am not contesting the polls. I am interested only in serving the people of Uttarakhand,” Col Rawat said in an interview to PTI.

    Joining the BJP less than a month ahead of the state assembly polls had given rise to speculation in the media that he might be given a ticket by the party.

    “My purpose behind joining the BJP was serving people and not holding an office or a post. During my 34 years in the Army I was transferred to different places. I didn’t get a chance to serve people of my own state. Now that I am retired I can do that,” he said.

    “I don’t want to be tied up to a post. I want to serve people freely,” he said.

    Col Rawat, who lives in Jaipur after his retirement five years ago, said Uttarakhand’s tourism potential can be utilised for generating employment for locals at their homes and stop migration from the hills.

    “With a growing tendency among people living in urban areas to take a break and spend a holiday in the unpolluted atmosphere of the hills, homestay facilities introduced by the state government have a huge employment generation potential,” he said.

    Yoga, trekking and other adventure sports is another area in which there are self-employment opportunities for locals in Uttarakhand, he said.

    Col Rawat said even CDS Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash, was very passionate about serving the people of Uttarakhand from outside politics.

    “My elder brother had specific development plans ready for different areas of the state including Almora and Ranikhet,” he said, adding he doesn’t want to talk about him much as thinking about his demise makes him distraught.

    CDS Rawat and 13 others were killed in a helicopter crash in Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8 last year.