The political landscape of Uttarakhand is clearly becoming polarised between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. These parties are getting stronger by the day and are eating into other political outfits in the State.
Uttarakhand was formed in the year 2000 after a long struggle for a separate state by the people of the state. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) played an important part in the struggle for a separate state and was a force to reckon with when the state was born. UKD was never able to give a voice to the regional aspirations and connect with the local population. To further worsen the situation an internal struggle in UKD forced a split in the party and it went into a political oblivion. In first assembly elections in 2002 UKD tasted victory in only four assembly constituencies; in the elections of 2007 the party got three seats while it slid to only one seat in 2012 elections. The party got a mortal blow recently when the election commission took back its status as a regional party and seized its symbol.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is the third largest party in the state in terms of vote share. The BSP got eight seats in 2007 assembly elections and was restricted to only three in the 2012 assembly elections. The party was rocked by large scale defection recently when supporters of social welfare minister Surendra Rakesh and leader of BSP legislators Haridas shifted en masse to the Congress. The BSP state President Meghraj Singh however is undeterred by the situation. He said that the party is increasing its vote share and BSP is the only viable alternative to the BJP and Congress in the state.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) surprised the political observers when it grabbed the Haridwar lok Sabha seat in 2004, but the party was not able to keep the momentum further and is a spent political force now in the state. The Communist parties are also no where in the political spectrum of the state.
The disillusioned supporters of these parties are targeted by both BJP and Congress and before every election large number of such workers joins these major parties.
The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing its first political test in the forthcoming General elections and its progress would be closely watched by the political observers of this bipolar state.