How BJP was able to retain Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Despite facing anti-incumbency and several opinion polls predicting a hung assembly in Uttarakhand, the ruling BJP has surprised many poll watchers and secured a comfortable two-third majority by winning 47 seats in the 70-member assembly.

Analysts attribute BJP’s win to a combination of factors, prominent among which is the party’s strong grass-roots level organisational network and PM Modi's popularity which remained intact among voters in the hills.

“From the results, it is evident that the Modi magic is still working in Uttarakhand for the fourth consecutive time after 2014, 2017 and 2019. He remains a popular figure and people tend to believe what he says,” said political analyst, Jay Singh Rawat.


He added that the indication that Modi’s appeal had worked amongst voters was evident from the fact that the saffron party won maximum seats in areas where the PM campaigned for the party. “Modi held rallies in Dehradun, Almora, Haldwani and Srinagar and in all these areas, BJP did exceedingly well.”

The saffron party was also able to gain the support of women voters, who outnumber men voters on several seats and form almost half of the over 82 lakh-strong electorate in the Himalayan state.

"Women voters outnumber men voters by 4.6% and it is evident that BJP would not have had such a resounding win if it were not for women votes," said Anoop Nautiyal, political expert and founder of Doon-based think tank, Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation.

The voters also bought into the BJP’s poll pitch of ‘double-engine development’ and benefits brought about by central government-sponsored schemes. “Projects like ‘One Rank One Pension’, about which PM Modi spoke in his rallies, resonated with the defence voters who form a substantial chunk of the electorate,” Rawat said.

And lastly, Congress proved to be no match for the grass-root organisational network of BJP and wide access to resources, a fact acknowledged by the opposition party members as well. “BJP has built a dedicated electioneering machinery by adopting a 'panna-pramukh' model, where the party appoints a pramukh for around a dozen families in a constituency who has the job of constantly interacting with them. This seems to have helped the party tremendously,” said a Congress leader.