DEHRADUN: The BJP in Uttarakhand has identified at least 30 Assembly seats out of 70, where anti-incumbency is strong. Of these 30, 11 are with the Congress and 19 with the saffron outfit.
“Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, the BJP’s election in-charge of Uttarakhand, is assessing the situation. He has been meeting MPs, election in-charges of constituencies for a feedback where the party is said to be weak,” said a party insider.
The saffron brigade is targeting 60-plus seats this time with slogan ‘Abki baar 60 paar’ to better the 2017 election results with a score of 57 seats.
The party has been conducting an internal survey of all 70 assembly seats to assess its strength and the possibility of winning in the 2022 state polls.
The last survey was spread over three phases, of 40-day each, with the third phase kicking off on Oct 25. This will help the party in ticket distribution, said a senior state party leader.
The BJP has also received information about many of sitting party MLAs preferring to stay on in Dehradun, Delhi and other cities instead of their constituencies.
That fuels anti-incumbency sentiment among the people in Uttarakhand hills.
The next step will be formation of a screening committee to finalize ticket distribution.
“The committee, on the basis of the survey report from each assembly constituency and local leaders who have their ears to the ground, will prepare a final report that will be sent to the central parliamentary board of the party,” said a leader of BJP’s Uttarakhand unit.
The Opposition has been attacking the ruling party for frequently changing chief ministers, giving one of them less than four months.
“The people know that the BJP has cheated them after they voted for them. They are not going to be deceived again,” said Ganesh Godiyal, the state Congress president.