The results of the assembly by-elections have given a new lease of life to the Congress, which was yearning to open its account on all five seats of Uttarakhand for the third consecutive Lok Sabha election. The main opposition party, in an upset, won the Badrinath seat of Chamoli district and Mangalore seat of Haridwar district. This victory has given new courage to the Congress before the municipal body and panchayat elections. At the same time, the state Congress organization’s side can be strengthened in front of the fact-finding committee that is arriving to investigate the reasons for the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Tough competition to the ruling party BJP
The challenge before the Congress has been to regain its mass base in Uttarakhand and give a tough fight to the ruling party BJP on the electoral front. Congress has faced defeat in the last two assembly elections and three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. The results of the assembly by-elections have given a new lease of life to the Congress, which was yearning to open its account on all five seats of Uttarakhand for the third consecutive Lok Sabha election. The results of the assembly by-elections have given a new lease of life to the Congress, which was yearning to open its account on all five seats of Uttarakhand for the third consecutive Lok Sabha election. The main opposition party, in an upset, won the Badrinath seat of Chamoli district and Mangalore seat of Haridwar district. This victory has given new courage to the Congress before the municipal body and panchayat elections. At the same time, the state Congress organization’s side can be strengthened in front of the fact-finding committee that is arriving to investigate the reasons for the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Tough competition to the ruling party BJP
The Congress has been facing the challenge of regaining its mass base in Uttarakhand and giving a tough fight to the ruling party BJP on the electoral front. Congress has faced defeat in the last two assembly elections and three consecutive Lok Sabha elections.
From the state organization to the senior leaders of the party, everyone is putting in all their efforts to break the losing streak, but they have been disappointed so far. In the 18th Lok Sabha elections held last month, the main opposition party did not win a single seat. The victory in the by-elections in two assembly constituencies of the state on Saturday has broken the losing streak of the Congress in the state, and has also found a solid solution to the ruling party’s election strategy that was considered impenetrable. The special thing is that the nature of both the seats has been different.
Eight thousand votes were received less in Lok Sabha elections
Badrinath Dham is the main stop of Char Dham under Badrinath seat. The party is presenting the victory on this seat in the same way as the victory of the opposition on Ayodhya seat in Lok Sabha elections. The victory on Badrinath seat has also raised new hopes for the future for Congress which is worried about polarization of Hindu votes. In Lok Sabha elections, Congress had received about eight thousand votes less than BJP in this assembly constituency. In the by-election, Congress put its strength in raising anti-incumbency on this seat. This strategy of the party has been effective.
Congress maintained lead on Muslim dominated seat
Meanwhile, Mangalore seat is a Muslim dominated seat. In Lok Sabha elections, Congress had received much more votes than both BJP and BSP. Congress had received almost double the votes than BJP. Congress faced tough competition from BJP on this seat, but the crown of victory was tied on the head of Congress. Congress has maintained lead on Muslim dominated seat. Due to success in by-election, the number of members of Congress in the assembly has increased from 18 to 20. The Congress Legislature Party will be able to make its struggle more aggressive inside and outside the Assembly to raise the anti-incumbency factor.
The result of the by-election has also raised hopes for the state organization of Congress. After the party’s defeat in the 2022 assembly elections, the central leadership made changes in the organization and handed over the command to Karan Mahara as the state president. Mahara stood firm to unite the party cadre, but electoral success remained away from him. Mahara has also succeeded in breaking the sequence of defeats in the first two by-elections and then in the Lok Sabha elections.
Results were achieved due to the unity of the organization and senior leaders: Karan Mahara
The strategy of the state organization regarding the by-election has proved to be successful. In such a situation, the state organization’s side can remain strong before the fact-finding committee coming to Uttarakhand on July 18 on a three-day tour to know the reasons for the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
