BJP banking on Dhami, repeal of Char Dham Board to win back Uttarakhand

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The BJP is banking on young chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his government's decision to repeal the controversial Char Dham Devasthanam Board to win Uttarakhand assembly polls.

Uttarakhand is going to polls on February 14.

The BJP claims that changing three chief ministers in the state will have no impact on the assembly polls. In March BJP had made Tirath Singh Rawat Chief Minister of Uttarakhand replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat. In July Tirath Singh was replaced by Dhami.

A senior BJP leader said in a short span of six months Dhami's acceptance and popularity has increased across the state especially among the youth. "It's true that Dhmai did not get chances to settle down as within six months of his taking charge of office election has been announced. The 46-year-old Dhami's popularity among the state's youth will be one of the major factors for our victory in upcoming elections. His acceptance within the party and among voters has also increased in the last few months," he said.

Another saffron party functionary said Dhami government's decision to repeal the controversial Char Dham Devasthanam Board will help the party in 15 assembly constituencies. In November last year, the Dhami government repealed the Board facing opposition from priests and other stakeholders. The priests of Char Dhams and other stakeholders had announced to field candidates in 15 assembly constituencies.

"About 85 per cent of people unhappy with the Board are BJP voters and they were going against us. Now, things have changed and their reason for unhappiness has ended and we won back their support. They will ensure our victory in those 15 seats," he said.

The saffron camp believes that infighting will have no impact on its poll prospects; some voices of resentment will settle down; everyone will work together for party's victory in assembly polls.

The saffron camp believes that development of the state under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership will also play an important role. During his two visits to Uttarakhand in December, Prime Minister Modi had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several projects worth several thousand crore.

On December 30, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 23 projects worth over Rs 17,500 crore in Uttarakhand which include foundation stone of the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project which was first conceived in 1976 and was pending for many years. On December 4, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore.

The BJP has set a target of winning over 60 seats in next assembly polls in Uttarakhand. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 57 seats.