CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
In electoral politics measured according to the anti-governance formula, voters no longer hesitate to mandate governments that work instead of running negative campaigns. The same trend was also observed in the Kedar Assembly by-election results declared on Saturday. The people of Kedarnath have put their seal of approval on the actions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, rejecting the negative propaganda carried out by the Congress about the holy place and the Yatra.
Since the formation of the Narendra Modi government at the Center in 2014, there has been a qualitative change in the mood of Indian voters. Voters have now begun to evaluate governments on the basis of their performance.
Be it the return of the Narendra Modi government to the Center in the years 2019 and 2024 or the return of the BJP government in Uttarakhand and UP in 2022 and recently in Haryana, this is its hallmark. We are also seeing the same sequence in the Kedarnath Assembly by-elections.
Caste system strategy failed
For these midterms, Congress focused entirely on negative issues. The stakes, from regionalism to the caste system, were played openly. But voters, rejecting all kinds of negative propaganda, approved the BJP government’s development work at the Center and the State, from Kedarnath Dham to the entire Yatra route.
Congress remained negative
The Congress campaign in the Kedarnath assembly by-elections mainly focused on diverting the Chardham Yatra towards Kainchi Dham, linking the temple being built by a trust in Delhi with Kedarnath Dham, raising questions about the gold donated to the Kedarnath temple and also raise questions about the mountains. He focused on keeping the two main castes face to face.
State congressional leaders openly aired these negative issues. Congress candidate Manoj Rawat even said that this contest is not between him and BJP candidate Asha Nautiyal but between Dham and Dhami. Many leaders, including former Chief Minister Harish Rawat and former state president Ganesh Godiyal, were attacking Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. In this way, Congress completely marginalized issues of development and public concern and began to depend on negative issues.
CM Dhami told the works
On the other hand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami himself led the BJP’s election campaign. From the first day he presented to the public the work being done in the entire area of the Chardham Yatra route, including Kedarnath. He also highlighted the policies that the state government has been implementing for women and youth.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that after the demise of MLA Shailarani Rawat, he came forward and considered himself the MLA from Kedarnath seat till the by-election and announced around Rs 700 crore for the development of the area, whose mandate has also been issued.
In his campaign, Dhami kept Prime Minister Modi’s love for Kedar at the forefront. He told how the Prime Minister renovated Kedarpuri, which was destroyed in the 2013 deluge, and today Kedarnathdham is visible in a new form. After becoming Prime Minister in 2014, he mentioned Narendra Modi’s visit to Kedarnath seven times in every speech. The state BJP organization also stood shoulder to shoulder and fully supported Chief Minister Dhami. The party made good use of all party MPs, including cabinet ministers, in the election campaign.
lessons for the future
The by-election results show that the BJP has managed to break the negative narrative of the Congress. The people of Kedarnath have dealt a blow to the forces of regionalism and caste system and have also confirmed their determination to make Uttarakhand a developed state in the year of silver jubilee.
