Uttarakhand election results: Independents hold key to government formation

As Uttarakhand headed for a hung Assembly on Tuesday, BC Khanduri tasted both near success and humiliating defeat . The BJP veteran, who was brought back as chief minister last September to lift the sagging image of the ruling dispensation in the hill state, led his party to a close finish, securing 31 seats in the 70-member Assembly, just one seat less than the opposition Congress’ tally of 32.

But he suffered an embarrassing defeat in his constituency Kotdwar, losing to SS Negi of the Congress. But after the results were announced, an unfazed Khanduri said, “I didn’t have a magic wand.” Interestingly, independents hold the key to the formation of the next government.

In the results declared on Tuesday, the Mayawati-led BSP, which was voted out of power in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, won three seats this time around in the state compared with eight seats it had won in the previous Assembly election.

For its part, the Congress improved its tally by 11 seats while the BJP secured four seats fewer than last time. In the run-up to the single-phase polls held on January 30, the BJP had run a statewide campaign , “Khanduri Zaroori hai (Khanduri is necessary (for the state)) ,” and even Congress leaders had said that the biggest advantage for the BJP was Khanduri.

A crowd puller, he energised the party cadre following tainted leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s exit as chief minister . Even state Congress leaders such as former chief minister ND Tiwari had said that the Congress in the state would have won a landslide had Khanduri not brought back to the poll race.

While Khanduri was the chief ministerial candidate for the BJP, the Congress, which, like the BJP, was also beset with internecine wranglings, didn’t field anyone for the post. In Kotdwar, where sitting MLA Shailendra Singh Rawat was made to sit out to make room for Khanduri, Singh’s supporters were upset with the decision.