Dehradun, Jun 4 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday swept all the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand for a third straight time thwarting yet another attempt by archrival Congress to make a comeback.
This is the fifth consecutive election in which the party routed its principal rival Congress to reassert its political dominance in the hill state.
It had not only defeated the Congress in 2014 and 2019 general elections but also in the 2017 and 2022 assembly elections in the state.
The Congress had won only 11 seats against the BJP’s 57 in a house of 70 in 2017. Improving its position slightly in 2022, it won 19 seats against the BJP’s 47.
Snatching an early lead over their nearest rivals from the Congress, BJP candidates consolidated it as the counting progressed to eventually clinch it 5-0.
Union Minister of state for defence and tourism Ajay Bhatt won the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress’ Prakash Joshi by 3,34,548 votes, the Election Commission said.
Bhatt had won the seat in 2019 for the first time, defeating Congress veteran and former chief minister Harish Rawat by 3,39,096 votes.
He was leading from the seat by the biggest margin in comparison with the rest of the BJP candidates.
Bhatt is a former president of Uttarakhand BJP and a former leader of opposition in the state assembly.
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat of the BJP won the Haridwar seat, defeating Congress candidate Virender Rawat by 1,64,056 votes to make it to the Lok Sabha for the first time.
Virender, a poll debutante, is the elder son of former chief minister and Congress veteran Harish Rawat.
Trivendra’s victory ends his political seclusion which began with his sudden resignation as the chief minister in March, 2021 when he was about to complete four years in office.
He was given organisational responsibilities after he stepped down as the CM but his political visibility was negligible.
He did not contest the 2022 assembly polls in the state.
However, he has bounced back with this win.
BJP’s Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah won the Tehri Garhwal seat in Uttarakhand on Tuesday defeating Jot Singh Gunsola of the Congress by 2,72,493 votes.
This is the fourth consecutive time that the erstwhile Tehri royal has won from the seat. She won the seat for the first time in 2009.
Former Union minister Ajay Tamta defeated his nearest rival former Rajya Sabha Congress MP Pradeep Tamta in the reserved Almora seat by 234097 votes and BJP national media incharge Anil Baluni defeated former PCC president Ganesh Godiyal by 1,63,503 votes in Garhwal (Pauri).
The BJP bagged 53.81 per cent votes while the Congress got 32.83 per cent. The BJP’s victory in Uttarakhand was among the few bright spots for the party which suffered reverses in several states.
As the BJP headed for a big win in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrived at the party office here on Balbir Road to take part in the celebrations.
Dhami who had been among the star campaigners of the party was accorded a resounding welcome by party leaders and workers.
Cries of “Dhakad Dhami zindabad” rent the air as he was garlanded by Pradesh BJP president Mahendra Bhatt and others on a stage erected at the party office.
“People of the country have voted for an NDA government headed by Narendra Modi as Prime Minister once again due to unprecedented development carried out during the last ten years. He has given a strong and stable government which took a series of welfare measures for everyone including the youth, women, farmers and the poor,” Dhami said.
He also thanked the people of Uttarakhand for deciding to give five out of five Lok Sabha seats of the state once again to the BJP and the leadership of Narendra Modi.
“The double engine government will further steer development in the state,” he said. PTI ALM ALM RT RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.