By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 20 Nov: Voting for the Kedarnath assembly constituency was held today in a peaceful manner. This was a byelection necessitated by the death of the incumbent BJP MLA, Shaila Rani Rawat on 9 July, this year. According to the Election Commission, 57.64 percent polling had taken place by 6 p.m. There was still a queue of voters at many booths at the time of the filing of this report. Women voters have always been decisive in the Kedarnath assembly seat. In the assembly elections held from 2002 to 2022, the number of women voters has always been higher.
It may be noted that 47 percent voting had taken place by 3 p.m. The polling speeded up as the day progressed after a rather slow start in the morning. The counting will be done on 23 November and the result is likely to be declared on the same day.
Although there are 6 candidates in the fray including a UKD candidate, the main fight is understood to be between BJP candidate Asha Nautiyal, a two-time former MLA, and the Congress candidate, Manoj Rawat, also a former MLA.
In the BJP there was stiff competition among many contenders to secure the party ticket. One of the main contenders was also Aishwarya Rawat, daughter of the late Shaila Rani Rawat as she hoped to win on a sympathy wave in her favour due to the untimely death of her mother.
The Congress was hoping that after being denied the ticket, she might rebel and contest as an independent, but these hopes were dashed. During the election campaign, BJP candidate Asha Nautiyal went to Aishwarya’s house and had lunch with her, while former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who came to campaign for his political disciple, also reached Aishwarya’s house with a group of party leaders. The aim of both parties is to woo the vote bank of Shaila Rani, who had been in the Congress before switching over to the BJP before the 2017 assembly elections.
The Kedarnath by-election is not just an assembly seat. On this seat, not only the prestige of the ruling BJP in the state but also its ideology is at stake. At the same time, Congress wants to deliver a big message for 2027 with a victory in Kedarnath. After losing all five seats in the Lok Sabha elections, the morale of the Congress was low, but the victories in the Badrinath and Manglaur assembly by-elections have boosted its morale despite the fact that the party remains riddled with strong factionalism. After some visible differences between the party leaders, the Congress did manage to put up a united fight in the end, putting all its strength into campaigning for Mission Kedarnath. Former state president Ganesh Godiyal took charge of the Congress campaign with active support from the Leader of the Opposition, Yashpal Arya.
The Kedarnath assembly by-election is being considered important in many ways. Especially the way Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has handled the rebellion in the Kedarnath by-election with great wisdom, it has sent a big message from the party organisation to the opposition. In such a situation, the role of two faces, Kuldeep Rawat and Aishwarya Rawat, who were strong contenders for the by-election, is being considered important not only for the party but also for their future. While BJP and Congress put their heart and soul into the by-election, it is also linked to the reputation of some emerging leaders apart from the party candidates. Which party will win ultimately will be revealed after the counting of votes on 23 November.
