Express News Service
DEHRADUN: The BJP has concluded that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost the state assembly elections due to factionalism and internal sabotage, say party insiders.
The party had decided to ‘introspect and analyse’ the reasons behind the defeat in 23 state assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand including Khatima where Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami contested and lost.
“A committee visited the constituency where the CM contested and lost by more than 6900 votes. The committee members which included a former health minister of the state concluded that the CM lost due to internal sabotage. Further inquiry will be conducted by the party about the people who are responsible,” said a party insider.
However, the party leadership decided to continue with Dhami as CM after securing 48 seats in the 70-member state assembly.
BL Santosh, national general secretary of the BJP, is likely to visit Uttarakhand soon to hold meetings on the matter.
The party has also decided to investigate the reasons for the vote share declining in comparison to the 2017 elections.
The seats which are being given special attention include Khatima, Piran Kaliyar where the party candidate lost the deposit and many other seats where the margin of the loss has been below 3000 votes.
Sources from the party also added that the exercise could lead to weeding out some party members who are suspected to have helped rivals.
In the 2017 elections, the BJP garnered 46.51% votes with 57 seats while in the 2022 elections the party was able to secure 44.34% with 47 seats.
On March 21, eleven days after the results of the Uttarakhand assembly elections, the party chose acting CM Dhami to continue as the CM of the hill state.
Six incumbent MLAs of the BJP have announced that they are ready to vacate their seats for Dhami to contest.
In July last year, after Dhami was chosen to be the CM of Uttarakhand, many seniors including Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Yashpal Arya and Bishan Singh Chuphal were not happy.
