A day after the polling was over, the candidates of various political parties, engaged in grueling electioneering for nearly a month, are now feeling relaxed. Some of them spent time with their family members while some were busy in analysing the vote with their party workers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Vikasnagar, Munna Singh Chauhan, locked in a fierce fight with the formidable Congress candidate and state Cabinet Minister Navprabhat, sounded relaxed when this correspondent called him up on Thursday to ask how he was doing. “I am really in a relaxed mood today, spending some tranquil time with myself.
The day started with a cuppa. later, I read some newspapers. I spent time with my family members too. Busy as I was with the grinding bout of campaigning, I hardly gave them time and attention they deserve. At noon, I met some party workers and thanked them for the pains they took. In the evening I will attend a wedding function,” he said.
Gangotri constituency- housing the shrine to goddess Ganga-being a high stake one, saw high-pitched campaigning all through. Past trends have led to the belief that the party which wins this seat in the assembly election generally also ends up being the party that forms the state government with the divine blessing of the Mother Ganga. With this enduring belief in view, the principal contending parties-Congress and BJP- went all out to woo the voters. A day after the dust of polling settled, Congress candidate from Gangotri constituency, Vijay Pal Sajwan was in a relaxed mood. “I am happy as the poll percentage of 56.42 is a pointer of my retaining the seat. There was no anti-incumbency at work here. This also means that my party is returning to power,” he said.
BJP state president Ajay Bhatt who contested from Ranikhet constituency in the Kumaon region said, “During election campaign, I used to retire at 1 am and get up at 5 am for days on end during the period of the campaigning. Today, I got up at 6.30 am and spent time with my family members. At 10 am I did my puja for around an hour. During the campaigning, I hardly had time for a full-fledged puja. I am sure that the mandate would go in favour of my party. This is what has made me relaxed.”
Jeet Ram, the Congress MlA from Tharali, who re-contested from the seat, was found in a relaxed mood too on Thursday. “I enjoyed the morning hours today after a long time, whiling away time the way I love, visiting my voters to thank them, going to the market to buy the household items and spending time with my near and dear ones. I am not worried about the result as I am sure that I would win. My party is also coming back to power. I am thus entitled to being carefree for some days,” he said.
This correspondent also tried to contact BJP candidate from Raipur, Umesh Sharma 'Kau', but he was unavailable, being occupied in a meeting. Similarly, other candidates including cabinet minister and Congress candidate from Dharmpur constituency, Dinesh Agarwal, Congress candidate from Dehradun Cantonment constituency Suryakant Dhasmana were also occupied in the daytime discussing the polling and related aspects with supporters and party workers at their residence. Similar was the scenario at the Congress Bhawan and the BJP state head office where party workers were occupied discussing the polls with feedback from various segments.