As soon as the by-elections were announced in the two vacant assembly seats of Badrinath and Mangalore in the state, the Congress has also geared up. The way Congress got a setback during the Lok Sabha elections on the Badrinath assembly seat due to the party MLA Rajendra Bhandari joining the BJP, the party is preparing to give a tough fight to the BJP in the by-election. State Congress President Karan Mahara is camping in Gopeshwar regarding the by-election. The main opposition party of the state has linked the by-election in the Badrinath assembly constituency to its prestige. Ever since the Joshimath disaster, the party had been putting in a lot of effort for a long time to strengthen its hold among the people in this assembly constituency.
Congress’s regional MLA Rajendra Bhandari left the party during the Lok Sabha elections and joined the BJP. Congress wants to win this seat vacated by his joining the BJP in the by-election. However, the path is not easy for the Congress. Former MLA Rajendra Bhandari is considered to have personal influence in this area. In case the ruling party BJP enters the election fray, Congress will have to put in more effort to challenge them. The biggest challenge for Congress on this seat is the selection of a strong candidate. In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP has got more votes in this assembly constituency. BJP got 31,845 votes on EVM, while Congress got 23,600 votes. Congress has lagged behind by more than eight thousand votes. BJP has also got more postal ballots than Congress. Despite this, it is a matter of relief for Congress that Congress has been in the lead in terms of votes at the village and surrounding booths of former MLA Rajendra Bhandari.
Congress has got more votes than BJP at many booths in the disaster-affected Joshimath area. Due to this, Congress is hopeful that it can get success in the by-election. At the same time, Congress is excited about the by-election on Mangalore assembly seat of Haridwar district. This seat has fallen vacant due to the death of BSP MLA Sarbat Karib Ansari.
In the 2022 assembly elections, Congress lost this seat to BSP. In the by-election on this seat which has fallen vacant due to the death of BSP MLA, the biggest challenge for Congress in terms of sympathy and voter equation is BSP.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Congress got more votes than BSP and BJP in this assembly constituency on Haridwar parliamentary seat. In the Lok Sabha elections, BJP got 21100 votes through EVM in Mangalore assembly constituency. Whereas, Congress got 44,101 votes i.e. more than double. State Congress President Karan Mahara said that the party will fight the by-elections strongly on both the assembly seats.
