The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress plan to turn the tide in their favour in the last leg of campaigning for the Uttarakhand elections by bringing in star campaigners such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in the hill state this week.
The campaigning for Uttarakhand elections will end on Saturday, while the state will vote on Monday. There is a bipolar contest between the BJP and Congress. Unlike 2017, when there was a clear wave in support of BJP, the political parties are not confident about voters’ mood.
With just four days left for campaigning, the BJP has planned three public meetings of PM Modi – Srinagar on February 10, Almora on February 11 and Rudrapur on February 12. Srinagar is the epicenter of the Garhwal region, and Almora is considered the cultural capital of Uttarakhand. It is nestled in the heart of the Kumaon region which has 29 seats. While Rudrapur in plains has a considerable number of farmers. In the 2017 elections, BJP won 10 out of 11 seats from the district.
“Yogi Adityanath will also visit on February 12 and address three meetings in Kotdwar, Tehri and Roorkee,” said Kuldeep Kumar, general secretary, BJP. CM Yogi hails from a village in Pauri Garhwal and Kotdwar assembly seat is close to his village. Former chief minister BC Khanduri’s daughter and sitting MLA Ritu Khanduri is in the fray from Kotdwar.
Congress general secretary MD Joshi said Rahul Gandhi will visit Haridwar’s Mangalore on February 10. After Mangalore, Rahul will visit the Jageshwar constituency in support of the party candidate. The Congress has organized a puja for the Gandhi scion at the ancient Jageshwar temple. Interestingly, both PM Modi and Rahul will be in Almora on the same day.
Both PM and Rahul had also addressed poll rallies in Dehradun two months ago in December. Recently, Priyanka Gandhi addressed a virtual rally on the occasion of releasing the party’s manifesto. This week, Priyanka will again visit Uttarakhand to sway women voters.
(With inputs from Sunil Navprabhat)
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