Revising the earlier voter turnout figure of around 68 per cent soon after the election was over for 69 out of 70 constituencies that went to the polls on February 15, the State Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi said on Tuesday that the figure stood at around 65.64 per cent, lower than the 67.22 percent turnout during the 2012 Assembly election. The latest figure has proved a damper for the principal Opposition party, Baharatiya Janata Party which was buoyed with the earlier figure as given by the Election Commission, ascribing the higher turnout to anti-incumbency sweeping the State.
While a section of the state BJP leaders is still hoping that they would pull through, riding the crest of the Narendra Modi wave the others being not so optimistic are exploring option of wooing the potential winners contesting as Independents to stitch up a post-poll alliance to prop up a BJP-led government in the state with a hung mandate staring the state in the face.
The revised figure rolled out by the election commission has, on the other hand, bolstered the spirit of the ruling Congress camp which was downcast for days following the election with the earlier figure exceeding the one of the last hustings, indicating an anti-incumbency trend of voting.
Mention worthy, BJP got lead in as many as 63 of the seventy Assembly segments, covering five lok Sabha constituencies of the state, riding piggyback of the Modi tempest blowing all across the country during the 2014 general election.
While talking to media on Tuesday, the state BJP president Ajay Bhatt sounded confident of his party mustering the number to form the next government in the state despite the polling percentage having declined as compared to the one of the last Assembly election. “We would secure a comfortable majority as the majority of women and the young voters whose polling percentages have increased have thrown their lot with the BJP,” he said.
However, he sounded uneasy when the media pointed out the fact that the high- stake constituency Choubattakhal from where the party veteran Satpal Maharaj- propped up as the chief minister probable-, was contesting had registered the second lowest turnout in the state, standing at 46.88 percent. “let us wait March 11 and things would be clear,” he said.
Talking to The Pioneer, a senior BJP leader said the widespread belief that the upward turnout trend meant anti-incumbency and the opposite meant pro-incumbency was fallacious. “It is not easy to draw instantaneous conclusion based on the turnout percentage with myriad factors influencing the lower or higher turnout. We are convinced that BJP would form the next government with different sections, including the women and the youngsters, having cast their ballots for us,” he said.
However, seemingly unfazed by the political circles remaining abuzz with post-poll speculations in view of the fractured mandate supposedly in store, the chief minister Harish Rawat was found busy maintaining his connect with the people. Pressed to say something soon after the election commission came out with the revised polling figure, he said that the verdict would be a shocking one for many.