The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand won the prestigious seat of the Mayor of Dehra Dun in the civic polls held in the state on April 19. But the ruling party did not do all that well in the civic bodies elsewhere in the state.

Although people preferred independents for their local bodies, the win in Dehra Dun will further strengthen Khanduri’s hold. His close associate Vinod Chamoli won by defeating his closest rival Rajni Rawat, a eunuch contesting as an independent candidate, by a margin of over 16,000 votes. Vinod Chamoli got 60,867 votes against his closest rival Rajni Rawat who got 44,224 votes. Congress candidate Surat Singh Negi stood third with 40,642 votes.

The BJP government has the Congress to thank for its win in Dehra Dun. It was the infighting in the Congress that gave the BJP an edge. Apart from winning the Dehra Dun Municipal Corporation, the BJP won the Mayoral post and also 28 out of total 60 wards. Elsewhere in the state, the results were mixed and in many instances voters appeared to prefer independent candidates. Elections were held for 32 municipalities and 27 nagar panchayats.

In the one year that he has been chief minister, Khanduri has won two crucial assembly seats and also the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha by-election. Early this year, in a close one-to-one fight with the Congress, Khanduri was instrumental in pulling off a narrow victory for his party with the support of the Defence Forces voters in the Pauri Garhwal by-poll. Interestingly, the ruling BJP lost narrowly in the votes polled through EVMs but won it with the Services postal ballots. At a time when it looked like the chief minister and his government were losing popularity, Khanduri was directed by the High Court to hold civic elections.

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