The Uttarkhand electorate voted for Modi, more than BJP. Photo : Times Now DigitalThe Uttarakhand electorate proved to be unprejudiced and has embarrassed the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in the same vein. While BJP’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost to Congress’s Bhuwan Chandra Kapri in the Khatima Assembly segment, the tide turned the other way in the Lalkuwa constituency, where former CM and Congress heavyweight Harish Rawat lost to BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht by a margin of over 20% votes. However, BJP has the thumping majority in the hilly state that has voted to bring the saffron party back to power bagging 47 of the 70 Assembly constituencies. With this, the party has created history in the state by becoming the first party to return to power in the consecutive elections in the state’s 21-year history. It has always been anti-incumbency so far and alternated between the BJP and the Congress — a factor that the grand old party was perhaps banking on. In the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress was routed with 11 seats as opposed to BJP’s 57, and it was eyeing the 2022 Assembly polls to stage a comeback. However, the Uttarakhand voters chose to lap up in the BJP’s promises of the double-engine growth model and ‘ethics, economy and environment’. The electorate firmly rooted for the BJP and chose to turn a blind eye to the fact that the saffron party had changed three Chief Ministers over five years, in a space of four months in fact. They had seen the Modi-magic at the Centre and State levels and knew that despite the frequent change in guards, the party (read: Modi) delivered its promises (mostly). While Trivendra Singh Rawat managed to complete most of his term, he was asked to resign a week short of completing four years in office. The reason in the power corridors of Dehradun was that Trivendra was not in favour of holding the Kumbh Mela. However, once he was replaced, the Kumbh was held under the watch of his successor — Tirath Singh Rawat. The religious congregation turned out to be the worst nightmare for the government as it was held responsible for the spread of the pandemic amidst the deadly second wave. While he was heavily criticized by the health bodies for agreeing to the Kumbh, Tirath also shot himself in the foot by courting some off-the-cuff remarks that did not go down well with the party high command in New Delhi. So, exit Tirath and enter Pushkar Singh Dhami. The soft-spoken and affable leader managed to stick to the CM’s chair until the elections. Congress tried in vain to make the most of BJP’s infighting and instability was intent on making it the saffron party’s Achilles’ heel. However, the public soon realised that while the grand old party was all about sycophancy, and given the Congress’s own history in the state, the contentions of instability and infighting have little ground to stand on. From political defections to infighting to resource mismanagement — whatever the reasons for the constant changing of guards maybe, the BJP managed to hold its flock together and how! It has managed to evade even the traditional problem of geography. The hill state is divided less on the basis of parliamentary constituencies and more along the lines of Kumaoni and Garhwali. Simply put, hills and plains. Preferential treatment has been a long-standing allegation against those in power, no matter what party (BJP or Congress) and many problems have arisen from these allegations of one region being ignored in favour of other. Despite the embarrassing defeat that could well be a death-knell for the grand old party, Harish Rawat — the man who was responsible for Congress’s strategy in the state — was busy lauding his daughter who won instead of resigning in shame.Bottom line: Congress has dug its hilly grave in Uttarakhand. Dhami lost his seat. BJP has the majority. But the true winner is Narendra Modi.