Friday, 18 February 2022 | Gajendra Singh Negi | Dehradun
Last hurrah!
Even as other leaders and candidates are in a relaxed mode after days of hectic, painstaking pursuit of votes on the campaign trail at the end of voting in the Himalayan state, the mercurial Harish Rawat is in no mood to slow down his juggernaut. While others are busy in electoral permutations and combinations, voting patterns and gauging the mood of the electorate, Rawat bared his heart out in an interview to assert that he will either become Chief Minister or sit at home. As expected, Rawat’s open claim on the coveted chair in case of the Congress party achieving the magic figure of 36 in assembly made many in the grand old party uncomfortable. Rawat has never hidden his chief ministerial ambitions and wanted the party high command to make him the CM face before the party entered the electoral battle ground. Though the Congress leadership didn’t fulfill his desire it is a fact that Rawat remained the face and soul of the Congress party’s campaign in the assembly elections. Understanding the situation, the PM, Home minister and other top leaders of BJP had trained their guns at Rawat during their campaign in the state. With the Congressmen sensing victory in Uttarakhand it is no wonder that the old warhorse has made one last hurrah for the cherished chair.
Merriment ends
As expected most candidates in all 70 assembly candidates who were making a serious bid for a place in the assembly opened the strings of their purses with generosity. Their benevolence ensured open flow of booze and cash in all parts of the state. Apart from liquor the sales of electronic gadgets, Saris, cooking wares and other items witnessed roaring sales. The hotels, restaurants, Dhabas, taxi drivers, butcher shops and many small businessmen in all parts of the state reported robust business due to kindness of Netaji and his team overseeing the election management. With end of polling the sudden prosperity has vanished as abruptly as it had surfaced. The candidates are now hoping to reap the harvest of the toil and mullah they had spent during the campaigning but the all round merriment has stopped. However the hangover would take some time to subside and when it does the merrymakers will again be left high and dry for next five years.
Women Power
The data released by the election commission shows that the women of Uttarakhand are way ahead of their male counterparts when it comes to the participation in the festival of democracy. In the state 67.20 per cent women came out to vote in comparison to 62.60 per cent men. In many mountainous districts this difference in vote percentage is 10 to 14 per cent in the favour of the fairer sex. Their active involvement in the election process is not surprising since in Uttarakhand women play a major role in the society and they were instrumental in creation of a separate state by assuming a lead role in the statehood movement. However one gets appalled to see the partisan attitude of the political parties in giving the women their rightful due. In the assembly elections the ruling BJP gave tickets to eight women while the Congress party could muster the courage to nominate only five women candidates in the 70 member assembly.
