Perceived as a wily strategist who baffles his opponents with his cleverly crafted moves, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has flummoxed BJP by his decision to contest from two seats-one each in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Not just this, his surprise move has sent the electoral calculations of the saffron camp go awry as his presence in the two electorally crucial districts where BJP won a large chunk of the 20 seats-11 in Haridwar and 9 in Udham Singh Nagar-is expected to steer the result in favour of the ruling party.
Observers say that the CM plunging into the fray from the two seats held by BJP has endowed the two saffron MlAs- Swami Yatishwarand from Haridwar rural and Rajesh Shukla from Kichha-with a glow they did not have. BJP has fielded both as nominees for the 2017 poll too. They contested for the first time during the 2012 election.
However, it is unlikely, given the clout the CM enjoys, that any of the two would prove a giant-killer, say the observers. If things happen this way BJP would lose two of the seats it won comfortably during the last election. Besides, things look ominous for BJP as to how the surprise move of the CM would precipitate things in other constituencies of the two districts.
Notably, the same trend of BJP holding its fort repeated during the general election-2014. BJP candidate from Haridwar lok Sabha constituency Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank established a lead of 3200 votes in the Haridwar rural Assembly segment while winning the seat by a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes. Similarly, in Udham Singh Nagar, the BJP contender for the general election 2014, Bhagat Singh Koshyari got a lead of over 16,000 votes from the Kiccha Assembly segment while winning the seat by a margin of over three lakh votes.
While Shukla was preparing to take on the bureaucrat-turned politician Rakesh Sharma who declared his intention to contest from the Kiccha seat as an Independent CM’s surprise move to plunge in the electoral foray from the same seat threw him as well as the electoral strategists of his party at their wit’s ends. Apparently stumped by the move, Shukla took time to adapt himself to the changed scenario. However, to boost the party’s sagging morale in view of the unexpected turn of things, the saffron party is set to have a rally here to be addressed by the tallest campaigner of the party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is learnt that the PM would address five rallies-one each in five lok Sabha constituencies- Tehri, Haridwar, Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar and Almora. He addressed the same number of rallies during the general election-2014 and his party won all of them with thumping margins.
The same mood of bewilderment prevails in the saffron camp in regards to the Haridwar Rural seat too. BJP initially was reconciled for a tough encounter as there was a buzz that the CM’s daughter Anupma Rawat would plunge into the poll foray from the same seat. However, things tumbled down for BJP as the CM himself decided to contest from the seat.
“BJP could have hardly been beaten in these two seats under the normal circumstances. But now, the hiccups for them to retain these seats seem insurmountable as the CM with his aura remaining undimmed despite the anti-incumbency is the ruling party’s face. Things have turned doubly tough for BJP with the formidable presence of the minority community voters in both the seats. While the number is around 30,000 in Kichha it is 27,000 in Haridwar Rural. They are most likely to vote en bloc for the CM while there seems to exist no Hindutva wave to consolidate the Hindu votes behind the saffron party that claims to champion their cause as during the 2014 general election,” said a state watcher.