Thursday, 17 October 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Kedarnath assembly by-election scheduled to be held on November 20 has become an issue of prestige for chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the State BJP government. The by-election has been necessitated due to the death of sitting MLA of BJP Shaila Rani Rawat. After the twin victories in the bypolls of Manglaur (Haridwar) and Badrinath ( Chamoli), the morale of the opposition Congress is comparatively higher and the BJP leadership including CM Dhami is under tremendous pressure to retain the Kedarnath seat to break the morale of the Congress party.
The BJP is likely to go all out to register a victory in the by- election because Kedarnath is close to the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the last ten years the PM has visited the shrine many times which has helped in increasing pilgrim footfall in Kedarnath.
Considering the importance of the bypoll, CM Dhami had made preparations in advance to ensure the victory of the BJP candidate from the constituency. He has inducted as many as five cabinet ministers (Satpal Maharaj, Ganesh Joshi, Subodh Uniyal, Rekha Arya and Saurabh Bahuguna) in Kedarnath to oversee the development works. Dhami has also made a slew of announcements worth hundreds of crores to woo the voters of the constituency before the imposition of model code of conduct (MCC). Apart from cabinet ministers, senior bureaucrats have also toured the constituency in recent times. One can understand the importance the CM has accorded to the by-election by his promise to the people of Kedarnath that he will work as MLA of the constituency till a new legislature is elected.
The BJP is hoping to cash on the popularity of the CM Dhami and his announcements to sail through the battle of the bypoll. The party is also banking on the sympathy the people of the area have for its MLA Shaila Rani Rawat who died recently.
The Congress on the other hand is banking on anti-incumbency and the anger of the people on what is being projected as the failure of the government to manage the Yatra this year.
Political analyst Udit Ghildiyal told The Pioneer that after losing Badrinath and Manglaur, the State unit of BJP and CM Dhami are under pressure to register victory in Kedarnath. He added that the prestige of CM Dhami and State BJP is at stake in Kedarnath as the election outcome will be closely watched by PM Modi and top leadership of BJP.
