The Congress, which has emerged as the single-largest party and the obvious claimant to the new government, largely cashed in on the strong anti-bjp sentiment and thus won by default. The disenchantment with the bjp is evident in the fact that the Congress won despite struggling with infighting on election eve. In fact, the party has far excelled all its own optimistic projections.
The Congress victory is a severe jolt for the bjp, given that Uttaranchal has been its stronghold since the ’90s. The current 70 constituencies in the new state were culled from the 23 assembly segments in undivided UP in which the bjp had 18 seats while the Congress had just one. But the scenario firming up on Sunday evening is that the Congress will win over 30 of the 70 seats and this shows the drastic erosion in the bjp’s mass base. Its campaign line, that it was instrumental in the creation of the new state, managed to evoke scant response from the voters who clearly spelled out their disenchantment with bjp’s failure to curb unemployment and initiate development in the state.
The poll has also seen the emergence of regional parties like the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and the Uttarakhand Janvadi Party. Although victory may have come on a platter for the Congress, it comes with a challenge. The new CM will have to effectively handle the problems of the state. And going by the bjp’s example, the Congress cannot take the people of Uttaranchal for granted.
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