Close contest between BJP, Cong on the cards in Yamunotri segment

MUSSOORIE: A close contest is likely between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the Yamunotri assembly seat in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand as the state goes to elections on February 14, political analysts said, pointing out change of parties by leaders and the resulting poll dynamics.

In 2017 assembly polls, BJP candidate Kedar Singh Rawat defeated Sanjay Dobhal of the Congress in Yamunotri with a margin of 5,960 votes. Of the 47,104 votes cast out of total 70,393 electors in the seat, Rawat secured 19,800 votes and Dobhal 13,840. The Congress has denied ticket to Dobhal this time and fielded Deepak Bijalwan, the district panchayat president, against BJP’s Kedar Singh Rawat.

In 2007, Rawat fought on a Congress ticket and defeated Pritam Singh Panwar of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal by a margin of 3,328 votes. Panwar is contesting from Dhanolti this time on a BJP ticket.

“In Yamunotri, it will be a close contest between the BJP and the Congress in the 2022 assembly elections as Kedar Singh Rawat is an experienced campaigner while Deepak Bijalwan has succeeded in attracting a section of the youth in his favour,” said Harish Thapliyal, a political expert from Uttarkashi.

BJP leader Jagbir Bhandari, after being denied the ticket by the party, had filed his nomination as an independent but later withdrew his name and joined the Congress. His supporters have turned their allegiance towards the Congress and are in a position to hurt the prospects of the BJP candidate in Yamunotri.

Sanjay Dobhal, after being denied the Congress ticket, is in the fray as an independent candidate and would hurt the prospects of the BJP, said experts.

Shiv Singh Thalwal, a senior journalist, however said, “It could be a triangular contest between BJP, Congress and Independent candidate Sanjay Dobhal this time round.”

The Yamunotri seat has a history of electing candidates other than the two national parties with Pritam Panwar winning the seat in 2002 on a regional party ticket and again in 2012 as an independent, Thalwal said.

Kedar Singh Rawat, the sitting BJP MLA, is confident of his victory, claiming that he has worked for the constituency by expediting the survey and DPR preparation for the railway connectivity in the Yamunotri region up to Nand Gaon. “I am going to the voters for the works I have done,” said Rawat.

Geographically, the assembly is divided into two parts of the Ganga and the Yamuna. The Ganga valley region has about 70 per cent voters and the Yamuna valley region about 30 per cent. A section of voters was in favour of change while another will opt for an experienced candidate.