: The fight in Uttarakhand is between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ‘ Dilli-wale baba ’, and himself, a ‘not out batsman’, according to Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
Mr. Rawat, who is the Congress’ chief ministerial candidate, is contesting the upcoming polls from two constituencies in the plains of the State — Haridwar Rural in the Haridwar district and Kichha in the Udham Singh Nagar district, both ‘VIP seats’ now.
“The BJP is contesting the polls on Modi ji ’s name. Woh kehete hain Modi ji savarenge Uttarakhand ki tasveer (the BJP says Mr. Modi will improve Uttarakhand). It means the BJP has no local leader in Uttarakhand to represent the party,” Mr. Rawat said recently, while addressing an election rally in the Bhogpur village, which falls under the Haridwar Rural seat.
In Haridwar Rural, Mr Rawat is faced with the tough task of contesting against a sitting BJP MLA Swami Yatishvaranand.
Beer Saini from Shahpur, which falls under Haridwar Rural, said, “There is a Modi wave in the area. If the BJP voters are unhappy with Yatishvaranand, they could still vote in the name of Modi.”
‘BJP divides, we unite’
Addressing a mixed crowd of Dalits, Muslims and upper-caste Hindus, Mr. Rawat said, “I plead for votes from people of all religions and castes. Woh todne wale log hain aur ham jodne wale log hain (the BJP divides and the Congress unites).”
Haridwar Rural has over 1,20,000 voters, of which 33,000 voters are Muslim and 24,000 voters are Dalits. The Dalit and the Muslim votes will decide the winner from the seat.
In the 2012 State Assembly polls, the contest was between the BJP, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In the coming polls, the BSP, with a Muslim candidate, could pose a challenge for Mr. Rawat, since the votes of the Dalits and the Muslims will be divided between the Mr. Rawat and the BSP candidate Mukarram.
In Kichha, the contest is between Mr. Rawat and a sitting BJP MLA, Rajesh Shukla. “That the BSP does not have a Muslim candidate will benefit Mr. Rawat as a large percentage of Muslim votes will now go to him,” says C.P. Ahikari of Kichha.
Kichha has over 1,19,000 voters. The seat has 34,000 Muslim voters and 19,000 Dalit voters.
Calling himself a “not out batsman”, Mr. Rawat said in Bhogpur that he was not as “miraculous” as the “ Dilli-wale baba ” and would make no promise to fill the bank accounts of the villagers with ₹15 lakh but, “I have a roadmap for Haridwar Rural… My only dharma is development...”
