While nationally the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha numbers dropped, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, the final outcome suggests that all the five seats of Uttarakhand — 2 from Kumaon and 3 from Garhwal — have overwhelmingly rejected the Congress while picking the saffron party. Nainital, Almora, Tehri Garhwal, Garhwal, and Haridwar — which encompasses a wide landscape — seem to have repeated their 2019 verdict even with BJP’s fresh faces like Anil Baluni. The mood on the ground has been against the Congress more unitedly than in 2019 in the state.
Here are three reasons the Congress united a large section of Uttarakhand against it:
‘Ram temple slight’
The fact that the Congress rejected the Ram Mandir Trust’s invitation to attend the grand pran pratishtha (consecration) at the temple in Ayodhya on January 22 has had a particularly adverse effect in two states — neighbouring Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Though the BJP has lost Ayodhya, Uttarakhand is enveloped with this sentiment.
Uttarakhand, often called Dev Bhoomi (God’s abode) is home to the Char Dham or four sacred places in Hindu beliefs — Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. More than 56 lakh devotees have visited all four sites in 2023. The people of this holy land, largely Hindus, didn’t take the rejection by the Congress well.
No wonder, from BJP’s Garhwal candidate Anil Baluni, Haridwar candidate and former chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to Tehri Garhwal candidate Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah — all were harping on the issue in their election speeches. While campaigning, BJP’s Anil Baluni told News18, “I am questioning them on their defiance to not attend Ram Mandir pran pratishtha in spite of our invitation to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. They had actually questioned the existence of Lord Ram. So won’t we ask questions?”
While pressing the EVM button, locals seem to have expressed their angst against the Congress, deeming it “anti-Ram”.
‘Disrespect to Gen Rawat’
The “disrespect” shown by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit while calling late chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat “sadak ka gunda” became an electoral issue this time in the state that has two regiments of the Indian Army — the Garhwal regiment and the Kumaon regiment. All the BJP candidates were underlining this in their campaigns, which seems to have worked.
During election coverage, News18 went to Gawana, the ancestral village of the current chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, where a local said, ”We don’t like the Congress. No one from this village will vote for them. What have they done for Gawana or even Uttarakhand? Instead, they left no stone unturned to insult us. My vote is for Modi.”
BJP’s candidate Anil Baluni, in whose constituency Gen Rawat’s house is located, made it a point to go there and pay respect to him and drummed up the issue in all his speeches. Baluni had told News18, “Look, I want to point out that this is not a campaign issue. This is a matter that is related to the brave hearts of Uttarakhand, to the land of Garhwal”. He made an emotional pitch while talking to News18, saying Garhwalis aren’t a “near dead society” and that they would get riled up hearing such abuses about one of their tallest sons.
A woman, whom News18 met during the election coverage in the state, said in Hindi mixed with Garhwali, “Look son, I don’t understand politics. But Gawana very well understands national interest.”
It became clear on Tuesday that BJP’s strategy may not have worked in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, or Rajasthan, but it certainly worked in this state that on average sends one son from every family to the defence forces.
Not UCC, addressing local issues
Unlike the popular belief that the country’s first uniform civil code has been a big hit among voters, the truth is that it has been nothing more than a talking point. Many voters were still found to be confused about it. However, there were local issues like land reforms, and the balance between tourism and saving ecology were hugely debated in Uttarakhand. But the BJP’s success has been addressing three of the top local issues — migration of the young population from the state, the Ankita Bhandari murder case, and Joshimath-like cracks that may develop elsewhere as well.
The most striking of them has been Pauri resident Ankita Bhandari’s rape and murder case where it was alleged that the primary accused, Pulkit Arya, is the son of Vinod Arya, a senior BJP worker from Haridwar. The BJP has been successful in delinking itself from the incident and cited steps like setting up a special investigation team and quick charges to claim swift actions.
While Joshimath cracks remain an ecological problem, the government is trying to stop the over-commercialisation of any city that may face a similar fate. In fact, the residents of many towns themselves have been keen on that. The BJP administration’s outreach has hit the right note in Uttarakhand.
Migration was a talking point in many of Baluni’s speeches. “My intention is to stop this migration and bring them back here. We are preparing a blueprint for that,” he said at a rally in Sri Nagar during the campaign that News18 reported. He even reached out to the youths, many of whom have a large following on social media to put forth his message. Now, it seems, that message has been received.
Comments
0 comment