New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) Ahead of the Uttarakhand polls, BJP leader Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said the party will create a record by repeating the government in the state as people there trust the development policies of PM Narendra Modi, who is "Kedar Baba" for them.
"In 2000, Atal Behari Vajpayee had created three new states including Uttarakhand. But, the BJP did not enjoy power until 2007. The party rode to power in 2007 because the people were unhappy with Congress rule. After Modi became Prime Minister, there has been tremendous development in the state.
"The people here trust Modi, whom they call Kedar Baba, to continue the development works if BJP comes back to power. Therefore, BJP is poised to romp home for the second consecutive time and create a record," he told a section of the media here.
In the past, no party has ever returned to power for the second consecutive time. BJP and Congress have been enjoying the power alternatively since the formation of the state.
Replying to a query, Joshi, who is also election incharge of Uttrakhand, said there is no question of neck-and-neck contest between BJP and Congress.
"BJP will form the government with more seats than the previous election. There were two rallies of PM Modi before Covid pandemic in the state. It was unbelievable that a large number of people attended the rallies, though we had not provided vehicles for many of them. Therefore, there is no question of a neck-and-neck fight. It is a creation of the Congress," he said.
According to ‘Janta Ka Mood’ opinion poll conducted by Zee News, the Congress is winning 35 seats and BJP 33, while AAP is bagging one seat.
The survey claimed that Congress leader and former chief minister Harish Rawat is the most-favored CM candidate with 43 percent respondents voting in his favor, while only 31 percent voting in favor of current CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Asked whether the central budget will have any bearing on state elections, Joshi said it is a Constitutional obligation and it has nothing to do with the polls, because the BJP governments in poll-bound states have done enough work in the last five years.
In 2017, the BJP had 57 seats in the 70-member House in Uttrakhand by defeating the Harish Rawat-led Congress government. Trivendra Singh Rawat was made the Chief Minister, but had to resign due to a collective decision by BJP top brass.
His successor and Lok Sabha MP Tirath Singh Rawat's tenure as the CM was also short-lived and was replaced by Pushkar Singh Dhami as the Election Commission was unlikely to conduct a by-election owing to the COVID-19 situation.
AAP has tried to make inroads in the state. It has declared Colonel (retd.) Ajay Kothiyal as its CM face.
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