TANAKPUR (UTTARAKHAND): The rain must have been beating down in the Himalayan climes of Uttarakhand but the ‘poll weather’ raised the temperature on Saturday.
Hinting at internal sabotage in the Khatima seat in the recently concluded 2022 state assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s star campaigner and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his scheduled public rally was cancelled at the assembly seat.
Interestingly, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami failed to retain the seat that he had won in 2017. Dhami lost to Congress’ Bhuwan Kapri, whom he had defeated in 2017.
“During Uttarakhand elections, I was supposed to come for some public meetings. But suddenly my meeting at Khatima was cancelled and my time was rescheduled for Tehri, Kotdwar and other places. Due to the honourable Prime Minister’s programme in Rudrapur, I wasn’t able to visit Khatima. I felt deep in my heart that if we would have gone to Khatima together the picture would have been different,” Yogi Adityanath said at an election rally in Tanakpur. The UP CM is visiting the state to drum up support for Dhami who is contesting the by-poll from Champawat.
The party had decided to ‘introspect and analyse’ the reasons behind the defeat on 23 state assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand including the Khatima seat from where the CM contested and lost by the margins of 6579 votes.
A committee, in its report, concluded that CM Dhami lost state assembly elections due to factionalism and internal sabotage. It is learnt that in July last year when Dhami was chosen to be the CM of Uttarakhand, many seniors including Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Yashpal Arya and Bishan Singh Chuphal were not happy with the decision.
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On being asked why Khatima was removed from the schedule of the UP CM in Uttarakhand, a party source told The New Indian, “The schedule of star campaigners in the assembly elections was prepared by the organisation. CM Dhami also wanted the UP CM to visit his constituency. But later his program was shifted to other places. No one knows why this was done. Now, the UP CM himself has hinted at sabotage.”
Replying to the queries related to Yogi Adityanath’s claim, Madan Kaushik, state BJP president skirted the issue. “Yogi ji is our senior and beloved leader who is from Uttarakhand. He says everything with audacity and authority. We are going to win the by-poll by record margins,” Kaushik told The New Indian.
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The UP CM’s star appeal is all there to see as the waiting supporters start chanting his name. A roadshow was also conducted where the BJP is going all out to ensure a win for Dhami.
“I am thankful to the people of Uttarakhand that they showed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhani by giving a majority to the party in the state. It is destiny that people of Champawat are now getting to vote for their CM as their MLA,” Yogi said.
“Now Ayodhya has been transformed. Ram Lala’s temple is being constructed. Kashi Vishwanath is visited by at least one lakh people every day. Mathura Vrindavan is taking a new shape. In Uttarakhand too with Char Dham shrines being transformed under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister by CM Dhami,” Yogi Adityanath added.
Meanwhile, CM Dhami informed that the state government has formed a five-member committee on Friday to prepare the draft of the Uniform Civil Code for Uttarakhand.
“We have formed a five-member committee for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code. Our government had promised this before elections and we have kept our promise,” added Dhami.
Citing an anecdote when a sage asked everyone to bring milk and everyone in the gathering brought water thinking that others would be bringing milk, CM Dhami also urged the people to come out and vote.
“Do not let that instance repeat on the voting day. Go out and vote. Don’t think that it won’t make any difference if one person doesn’t vote. Every vote makes a difference. So go out and vote,” urged the CM.
Interestingly, no sitting CM has been able to win the assembly elections but all incumbent CMs have won the by-polls. Former CM Vijay Bahuguna, who won by the vote margin of 39,900 from the Sitarganj seat in the year 2012, recorded the biggest win.
On March 21, 11 days after the results of Uttarakhand assembly elections, the party chose acting CM Dhami to continue as the CM of the hill state. Six incumbent MLAs of the BJP had announced that they were ready to vacate their seats for Dhami to contest. Finally, the party Champawat seat of Kailash Gahtori, who was the first one to announce that he will vacate his seat.