Assembly elections: BJP balances caste equations in first list for Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: BJP on Thursday released its first list of 59 candidates for the Uttarakhand assembly elections, scheduled to be held in a single phase on February 14.
The list of 59 out of 70 seats did not spring any major surprises as most of the sitting MLAs were retained by the party. However, the choice of candidates indicated an attempt to balance caste equations by the saffron party. “Out of the 59 candidates, 22 are Thakurs, 15 are Brahmins, six come from the reserved category, and three from the Baniya community,” Prahlad Joshi, BJP’s election in-charge for Uttarakhand, told mediapersons.As for the remaining 11 seats, Joshi said the candidates will soon be announced by the party.
Analysing BJP’s social engineering formula based on the first list of candidates, political analyst SMA Kazmi said, “Brahmins and those from the traders’ community have been traditional supporters of BJP in Uttarakhand. By giving 15 tickets to Brahmins and three to Baniya candidates, BJP has tried to woo its traditional voter base.” He said, “According to a conservative estimate, Thakurs make up 35% of the state’s population and 25% are Brahmins voters. Therefore, both Congress and BJP are likely to follow the tried-and-tested Thakur-Brahmin caste equation in ticket distribution.”
As was expected, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has been fielded from Khatima, a seat which he currently holds, and state BJP chief Madan Kaushik will contest from his stronghold of Haridwar. Similarly, cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal has been fielded from the Narendra Nagar seat, and Ganesh Joshi will again contest from the Mussoorie constituency. Tourism minister Satpal Maharaj has also been fielded from Chaubattakhal . Former Congress rebel Umesh Sharma Kau, about whom it was speculated that he may rejoin the Congress along with Harak Singh Rawat, has been fielded from his traditional bastion of Raipur. The saffron party has also fielded Saurabh Bahuguna, son of former CM Vijay Bahuguna, from Sitarganj.
Besides, urban development minister Bansidhar Bhagat has been fielded from Kaladhungi, Swami Yatishwaranand from Haridwar (rural), Pradeep Batra from Roorkee and Bishan Singh Chufal from Didihat assembly seat.