The model code of conduct kicking in with the announcement of the election schedules for five states, including Uttarakhand, on Wednesday, has cleared decks for the election. However, the two principal parties of the state-Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party-are yet to pull up their socks in right earnest with the candidate list remaining unprepared. less than six weeks left for the crucial election, BJP is likely to take the final call in course of the party’s national executive committee meeting slated to start in Delhi on Friday. Things are still unclear in the state Congress camp, though state brass is claiming that the first list would be announced by the end of the first week of January.
This time, the election is bound to end up in a sort of cliff hanger with the people leaving the political pundits to guess. “Unlike the national election 2014, there seems to exist no wave this time round. While Congress is grappling with the anti-incumbency BJP’s prospects are under cloud with the people still suffering the demonetization aftermath. Chief minister Harish Rawat is going full throttle to beat the anti-incumbency wave by flaunting his ‘myriad’ achievements, including pensions. Riding on the tide of the anti-incumbency, BJP is focusing on to batter the present regime by harping on the tune of alleged scams that have cropped up from time to time, denting its image in the collective perceptions. However, the strange thing is that the people are choosing to keep the cards close to their chests, adding unpredictability to the already murky electoral scene of the Himalayan state,” said a state watcher.
Some state BJP leaders are candid enough to admit that though they hope to ride piggyback on the note ban drive there are several negative things to reckon with. “True, a section of the urban people, particularly the youths, is fairly vociferous in supporting Modi’s move against black money the farming community which constitutes a decisive chunk of the state’s electorate is at the receiving end of the move. They keep incurring losses as the expected volume of returns for their produce is eluding them, given the protracted cash crisis. They are being forced to go for distress sale. Potatoes grown painstakingly are rotting in cold storage units as the producers are unable to hire the transport to reach them to the mandis with the cost escalating. There is every possibility that the old potatoes would go down the drain with the new ones flooding the markets. Things, of course, augur ill for us,” said a BJP insider.
Political analysts are of the view that the decision of the election commission to count the expenses of the candidates from the time they are vying for tickets seems to have left many ticket hopefuls in the dock. “The election commission is right in insisting on the potential candidates exercising austerity. But the contenders are in a fix. The maximum expense limit being pegged at Rs 28 lakh, they would find it difficult to motivate their followers to canvass for him to the extent they desire. Unable to generously open their purse strings to shower ‘gifts’ on the electors, given the constraint, the EC’s decision is deepening wrinkles on the already careworn foreheads of the potential contestants,” said an observer.