Uttarakhand voters play guessing games over BJP's CM candidate

With heavyweight turncoats on its side against an emaciated Congress line-up, Bharatiya Janata Party may appear to have an advantage in Uttarakhand which goes to polls on February 15 but absence of a chief ministerial candidate may prove to be a stumbling block.

While Congress is going to the polls with a definite face in Harish Rawat, BJP has left people guessing about who would get the top office if the latter is voted to power, the presence of too many strong turncoats on its side only adding to the confusion.

Non projection of a CM candidate despite going to the polls with an anti-corruption plank has confused voters who cannot decide who they should vote for if not for Harish Rawat.

Political observers feel projecting someone with a clean image as the BJP’s CM candidate and an alternative to Rawat would have done the party a world of good as it would have been easier for people to make a choice.

Presence of a galaxy of ambitious leaders in the party including about a dozen who switched over to it from the Congress has only deepened the voters’ dilemma rather than ameliorating it.

This uncertainty in the voters’ mind may prove expensive for the BJP and work in favour of Harish Rawat and his party, they maintain.

They feel it is this awareness on part of BJP that has made the party throw all its might into buttressing its chances with most party heavyweights including Amit Shah busy campaigning in different parts of the state.

While Shah, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Shahnawaz Hussain have already toured the state to drum up support for the party the next few days will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing as many as four rallies to brighten its prospects.

However, BJP downplays non projection of a CM candidate saying it is not a problem for the party.

“We have a galaxy of leaders deserving of the post. Once the party is elected to power, the party’s parliamentary board will take a call on the issue,” Shahnawaz Hussain said at a press conference on Wednesday.

He said BJP won Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand without projecting a CM candidate in these states.

Image: BJP president Amit Shah addressing voters in Uttarakhand. Photograph: PTI Photo