The Congress has won all the three Assembly seats, Doiwala, Dharchula and Someshwar, for which bypolls were held on Friday.
According to Chief Electoral officer of Uttarakhand Radha Raturi, Chief Minister Harish Rawat won Dharchula by around 20,000 votes, while two other Congress candidates, Rekha Arya won Someshwar by around 10,000 votes and Heera Singh Bisht won Doiwala by around 6,500 votes.
With these victories, the Harish Rawat Government has achieved clear-cut majority of 36 seats, including a nominated MlA, in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly.
CM Rawat got 31,214 votes against BJP candidate BD Joshi, who received a mere 10,610 votes in Dharchula. In Doiwala, Congress candidate Heera Singh Bisht polled 35,980 votes, while BJP candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat got 29,468 votes and Congress candidate Rekha Arya obtained 23,230 votes, while BJP candidate Mohan Ram Arya got 13,193 votes in Someshwar assembly.
These bypolls results have boosted the morale of the Congress workers, who were disappointed after facing defeat in all five lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand in general election-2014.The victories have also made the Congress Government independent. During Assembly election-2012, the Congress could not achieve clear-cut majority, so they were under pressure from the PDF, which is an alliance of seven MlAs, including three BSP, three independent and one UKD (P).
An elated CM Rawat said that it was “an indication that the so-called Modi Wave is over now”. He also expressed thanks to the people, “who have vindicated my work by giving their mandate in these three assembly bypolls.” He reiterated that he would try to meet the people’s expectations in the remaining period.
Doiwala seat, which was being considered as a stronghold of BJP because they had won this seat since first Assembly election-2002, was snatched by the Congress from the jaws of BJP. It has also given new life to Congress leader Heera Singh Bisht who lost assembly eleciton-2007. It has also increased the stature of newly appointed State PCC president Kishore Upadhyaya.
By winning all three seats in Assembly bypolls, the Congress has achieved the magic figure of 35 out of 70 seats, while BJP, which had 30 seats during general election-2014, has shrunk to 28 from 30.