Uttarakhand Assembly Polls: The BJP faces pressure from Congress, AAP (File)
Uttarakhand - where the BJP changed its Chief Ministers in quick succession last year to offset any electoral loss - votes on February 14 to elect a new Chief Minister for the 70-member state assembly. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Other states going to polls are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, the Election Commission announced today.
In Uttarakhand, no party has managed to win back-to-back polls.
The polls are being held as a third Covid wave seems to be sweeping the country with cases growing at a swift speed. This morning India reported over 1.41 lakh new cases - up 21 per cent from yesterday.
On Wednesday, the Congress, taking lead, pushed the pause button on all political rallies and programmes in poll-bound states, citing the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country and growing alarm that these rallies - which draw crowds of thousands - could emerge as super-spreader events.
In the hilly state of Uttarakhand, the BJP is facing a dual challenge from the Congress and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which is making its debut.
Stealing a march over other parties, the AAP, back in August, announced that retired Army colonel Ajay Kothiyal will be the party's chief ministerial candidate.
Mr Kothiyal, affectionately called 'Bhole Ka Fauji, was the principal of the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at the time of the Kedarnath disaster and is credited with doing commendable work in rescuing people and helping the affected put their lives back on track in the aftermath of the tragedy.
If voted to power, the Aam Aadmi Party will make Uttarakhand the global spiritual capital for Hindus, said Mr Kejriwal.
Congress' 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 BJP, bolstered by the various development projects inaugurated by the Prime Minister, hopes to put behind the sorry episode of naming one chief minister after another ( 3 in total) and win the voters' confidence.
In the last Assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 56 seats while Congress bagged 11 seats in the 70-member house.