Poll of Polls: Surveys Do Change by the End, BJP Will Win 60-Plus Seats in Uttarakhand, Says CM Dhami

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has predicted 60-plus seats for the ruling BJP in the hill state in upcoming Assembly elections, despite surveys forecasting up to 41 seats for the ruling party.

A News18 Poll of Polls has predicted a win for the BJP in Uttarakhand by a slender margin. As per pollsters, the BJP could get 37-41 seats in the 70-seat Assembly. The halfway mark in the hill state is 36 seats. The Congress is predicted to get 24-28 seats, while the AAP may manage only two to four seats.

If the BJP does win the upcoming elections, it will be the first party to return for a consecutive term since the formation of Uttarakhand in 2001.

In the 2017 Uttarakhand elections, the BJP had ousted the Congress from power, bagging 57 seats – the highest any party managed since the state’s formation in 2001. The Congress was left with 11 seats. The tenure of the current Uttarakhand Assembly ends on March 23, 2022.

“We are certain that we will win. We are getting the support of the people. Surveys do change by the end. By the elections, we will be 60-plus,” Dhami told News18.

The build-up to Uttarakhand polls started in March 2021 when the replaced ‘unpopular’ CM Trivendra Rawat with Tirath Rawat. But in less than four months, Tirath Rawat’s controversial statements and the Covid-19 testing fiasco at Kumbh Mela saw him exit too, and in came Pushkar Dhami, relatively a newbie in the big league.

Speaking to News18, Dhami said the people of the state know why the changes were made. “I know CMs have been changed several times. All changes were made on the basis of development and roles allotted. People of Uttarakhand know that the state is in safe hands.”

The Uttarakhand Assembly elections will be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will be held on March 10.

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