In a resounding win, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 10 out of 11 mayoral seats in the recently concluded urban local body elections in Uttarakhand. An independent candidate has won the only vacant mayoral seat in Srinagar, Pauri district as per the State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar.
The BJP’s victory in these polls reflects its ongoing presence in the politics of the state. Polling for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 nagar panchayats took place on January 23, with an impressive voter turnout of 65.4%. The vote tallying started on Saturday, and the final count in all 100 urban local bodies is expected by late afternoon.
Key outcomes and party performance as BJP wins urban local body elections Uttarakhand
The BJP gained control of important mayoral roles in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Kashipur, Haridwar, Roorkee, Kotdwar, Rudrapur, Almora, Pithoragarh, and Haldwani. Nobel BJP victors including Saurabh Thapliyal, Shambhu Paswan, Dipak Bali, and Anita Devi were there. In the meantime, an independent candidate, Arti Bhandari, won Srinagar.
Among other things, the Congress party could not even get single a mayoral post, completely in stark contrast to its position in the 2018 local elections, when it had got two mayoral posts. This time the parliament (Congress) came in third place after those of the BJP and the independents in the municipal councils instead.
BJP’s agenda: development and growth
While campaigning for the election, the BJP appealed to the electorate to back a “triple-engine government” in order to continue the developmental engine in Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami congratulated the victory candidates and highlighted the need for clean and green cities for tourism purposes.
“Heartiest congratulations to all the winning candidates of BJP. But the onus is on them to boost the development rate and the system parameter,” Dhami said.
Dhami expressed thanks also to the state election commission for conducting peaceful elections.
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