A CHANCE TO MAKE AMENDS

CONGRESS INFIGHTING MADE THE JOB EASY FOR THE INCUMBENT BJP EVEN AS CM DHAMI FELL SHORT OF THE CREASE

- ANILESH S. MAHAJAN

AS DUSK FELL IN the hill state of Uttarakhand on March 10, a wave of jubilation swept through the BJP. The party had scored a second successive victory with 47 seats in the 70-member state assembly. The BJP’s tally is down from 57 in 2017 and so is its vote share (46.5 per cent to 43.5 per cent), yet managing a repeat government in what has been a ‘swing state’ electorally is no mean feat.

The good fortune, though, did not extend to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who lost his Khatima seat by 7,273 votes to old rival Bhuwan Chandra Kapri (Congress). Call it tradition, but the last incumbent CM to get re-elected to the Uttarakhand assembly was B.S. Koshyari in 2002. In fact, no one, except the late N.D. Tiwari of the Congress, has even completed a full term in office. In the previous two assembly polls, the incumbent chief ministers faced particularly ignominious defeats. “The BJP is forming a government with a massive majority. I’m thankful to the party and central leadership for giving an opportunity to workers like me, who come from remote villages and humble backgrounds,” Dhami told india today, summing up his efforts.

In July last year, Dhami was picked up as night watchman to end a dizzying bout of CM roulette—the BJP central leadership had dumped Trivendra Singh Rawat and then Tirath Singh Rawat within four months. The BJP must now consider its options for the next chief minister of the state. The names of Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni, as well as RSS old-timer Dhan Singh Rawat, who won the Srinagar seat by 587 votes, and godman-turned-neta Satpal Maharaj, who won Chaubattakhal by over 10,000 votes, are doing the rounds.