Uttarakhand Assembly Polls: The results will be counted on March 10
Uttarakhand, where no party has managed to win back-to-back elections, votes on February 14 in a single phase, the Election Commission announced today. The votes will be counted on March 10.
Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party will make its debut in the hill state. It named its chief ministerial face last August - much ahead of rivals BJP and the Congress - retired Army colonel Ajay Kothiyal.
The BJP which had to drop two chief ministers - Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat (not related) - finally settled on Pushkar Singh Dhami a year before the polls. It is yet to announce its chief ministerial face in this election.
Congress's Harish Rawat, who expressed his displeasure over the fighting in the state unit that forced his hands, has got the Rahul Gandhi nod to lead the party's poll campaign in the state with a free hand. The party is mum on its chief ministerial face.
Conducting timely election is the "essence of maintaining democratic governance," the Election Commission underlined today, explaining its decision to go ahead with elections in five states amid a raging third wave of Covid driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
"All voters, candidates, parties, should be conscious towards public health and Covid protocols. The parties should give masks and sanitisers for political meets. Door-to-door campaign can involve only five people," said Sushil Chandra, Chief Election Commissioner.
The Commission said those ailing with Covid can vote from home.
In the last Assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 56 seats while Congress bagged 11 seats in the 70-member house.