Uttarakhand Election Result 2022: Will CM Pushkar Singh Dhami retain his seat?

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to secure a comfortable lead with 42 seats in Uttarakhand assembly polls on Thursday. Its main opposition Congress was ahead in 25 seats, according to the latest poll trends.

Uttarakhand’s sitting Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Shami is trailing in the Khatima constituency, while the Indian National Congress’s Bhuwan Chandra Kapri has taken a lead of 2287 votes. So far, Dhami has receives 17,071 votes and Kapri has 19,358 votes.

As per the latest election trends, BJP has crossed the majority mark in the state. This time, the ruling saffron party is seeking a second consecutive term in office, which has never happened in the state’s history.

According to the Election Commission, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Independent candidates were ahead on 3 seats.

Prominent candidates trailing in their respective seats are — Congress leader Harish Rawat, who was behind BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht in Lalkuan; BJP’s Subodh Uniyal was trailing behind Congress’s Om Gopal Rawat in Narendra Nagar.

Yashpal Arya, who joined the Congress after leaving the BJP ahead of the polls, was also trailing behind BJP's Rajesh Kumar in Bajpur. Congress’s Pritam Singh was leading against BJP’s Ramsharan Nautiyal in Chakrata.

The counting of votes for the Uttarakhand assembly election was held in a single phase on February 14 and the election results will be declared today. The state’s voters' turnout was at 65.4 per cent this year, as per the election commission.

The Uttarakhand assembly election is witnessing a three-pronged contest with the ruling BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party going against each other for power.

According to the India Today-Axis My India’s exit poll prediction, BJP is expected to retain power in Uttarakhand with lesser seats compared to 2017.

The exit poll prediction suggested that the ruling BJP would win 36-46 seats in the 70-member assembly with a 44 per cent vote share, while Congress is likely to bag around 20-30 seats with a vote share of 40 per cent. The BSP is predicted to win 2-4 seats.

(With input from agencies)