Nation / Sat, 13 Jul 2024 The Indian Express

Buoyed by Uttarakhand bypoll wins, Congress eyes revival as BJP reels from Badrinath loss

The Congress’s Lakhpat Singh Butola won the Badrinath seat against the BJP’s Rajendra Singh Bhandari by 5,224 votes. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress trailed in 14 of the 19 Assembly segments it had won in 2022. AdvertisementIn the 2002 Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Nizamuddin, running on the BSP ticket, had defeated Sarwat Karim Ansari, then a Congress candidate. In 2022, Bhandari had defeated state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt by 2,066 votes. The seat alternated between the BJP and the Congress in the 2007 and 2002 elections, respectively.

One month after the ruling BJP’s third consecutive sweep in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttarakhand, the Congress has now made a comeback in the hill state by winning both the Badrinath and Manglaur Assembly seats in the bypolls.

The Congress’s Lakhpat Singh Butola won the Badrinath seat against the BJP’s Rajendra Singh Bhandari by 5,224 votes. Bhandari’s switch from the Congress to the BJP led to the by-election.

In Manglaur, senior Congress leader and three-time MLA Qazi Nizamuddin emerged victorious by just 422 votes after a recount, against the BJP’s Kartar Singh Bhadana. The BSP’s Ubaidur Rehman, also known as Monty, finished third. The by-election was necessitated by the death of Monty’s father, former BSP MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari.

These bypoll results were seen by some observers as a signal for revival of the Congress in the state, while for the BJP, the defeat in the temple town of Badrinath echoed the party’s earlier loss in Ayodhya, where it failed to win the Lok Sabha seat just months after the inauguration of the grand Ram Temple.

Congress revival

The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) attributed its defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in the state — losing all five seats of the state at the hands of the BJP — to a “lack of coordination, harmony, and communication among party leaders” in its initial analysis.

The Congress’s vote share dropped to 32.83% in the Lok Sabha polls from 38% in the 2022 Assembly elections, when it had won 19 out of the 70 seats. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress trailed in 14 of the 19 Assembly segments it had won in 2022.

After its Lok Sabha poll debacle, the party claimed it would have done better if the elections had been held in the state at a later poll phase – something it now claims has been “validated” by the bypoll results.

Congress candidates Qazi Nizamuddin (L) and Lakhpat Singh Butola (R) have been elected from the Manglaur and Badrinath Assembly constituencies. (Photo: INC Uttarakhand/ Lakhpat Singh Butola/ X) Congress candidates Qazi Nizamuddin (L) and Lakhpat Singh Butola (R) have been elected from the Manglaur and Badrinath Assembly constituencies. (Photo: INC Uttarakhand/ Lakhpat Singh Butola/ X)

Garima Mehra Dasauni, the party’s state media in-charge, told The Indian Express that the scheduling of the elections in an early phase had worked against the party as “the momentum began to shift in its favour later”. She also claimed that the message of the Congress manifesto and its guarantees needed more time to reach the public.

On Saturday, after winning both the Assembly seats in the bypolls, Dasauni reiterated that the party’s claim had merit and suggested this could signal a revival for the Congress in the state.

The party’s victory in Manglaur is also notable, because although the main political rivalry in Uttarakhand is between the BJP and the Congress, the BSP has always fought strongly in Manglaur, which the BJP has never won since the state was formed.

Despite the voters’ sympathy for the BSP candidate over Ansari’s demise, the Congress secured the win. The BJP, though, is not viewing the result as a defeat, as they came very close to winning the seat for the first time, garnering its highest-ever 31,305 votes.

In the 2002 Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Nizamuddin, running on the BSP ticket, had defeated Sarwat Karim Ansari, then a Congress candidate. In 2007, Nizamuddin (BSP) defeated the RLD’s Chaudhary Kulveer Singh, with Ansari (Congress) finishing third. In 2012, Ansari (on BSP ticket) defeated Nizamuddin (on Congress ticket). Nizamuddin won back the seat for the Congress defeating Ansari in 2017, but lost to the latter in the 2022 Assembly elections with a slim margin of 598 votes.

Blow to BJP

Despite the BJP losing both Badrinath and Manglaur seats in the 2022 elections, its failure to secure either seat in these bypolls is a setback for the party.

The BJP had expected to win the Badrinath seat, especially in light of its government’s emphasis on the Char Dham Yatra and religious tourism in Dev Bhoomi Uttarakhand.

Badrinath is one of the 14 Assembly segments under the Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency, and was the only one won by the Congress in the 2022 Vidhan Sabha polls, with the rest going to the BJP.

The seat became vacant in March after Rajendra Bhandari left the Congress to join the BJP. In the bypoll, the BJP nominated Bhandari, a three-term Congress MLA and former state minister, while the Congress fielded first-timer Lakhpat Butola, a former Chamoli zila panchayat president and party spokesperson for the past nine years, who is currently serving as the party’s Garhwal Mandal media in-charge.

In 2022, Bhandari had defeated state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt by 2,066 votes. Bhatt had defeated Bhandari in 2017, while Bhandari won the seat in 2012 by defeating the BJP’s Prem Ballabh Bhatt. The seat alternated between the BJP and the Congress in the 2007 and 2002 elections, respectively.