Dehradun: In a closely contested battle for mayoral seats of Uttarakhand, the BJP was successful in winning Rishikesh and Rudrapur, and seemed set to clinch Dehradun as well when results last came in. However, it was in a close contest with Congress in two key seats Haldwani and Hardiwar. Out of the 74 results declared for the posts of mayor/chairpersons for nagar palikas, nagar parishads and nagar panchayats, BJP had won 30, while independents and Congress had got 22 seats each till the time this report was filed.In Rishikesh, BJP’s Anita Mamgain who polled 26,403 votes defeated independent candidate Veena Deep Sharma who received 15,235 votes. Laxmi Sajwan of Congress stood third with 12,057 votes.At Dehradun, Sunil Uniyal Gama of the BJP who had taken an initial lead, continued to maintain it till the night hours. Till reports last came, he was ahead of Congress nominee Dinesh Agarwal by a margin of 17,038 votes.In Rudrapur, BJP’s Ram Pal defeated Congress nominee Nand Lal by a margin of 5,134 votes. While Ram Pal received 39,882 votes, Nand Lal got 34,748 votes.At Haldwani, BJP’s Jogendra Rautela had taken lead in first few rounds. However Congress candidate Sumit Hridayesh, the son of leader of Opposition Indira Hridayesh, bounced back and was ahead by a slight margin of 2,319 votes till the time of filing this report.In Haridwar, too, BJP and Congress were neck to neck. Anita Sharma of Congress was ahead of BJP’s Annu Kakkad by a margin of over 2,323 votes.At Kotdwar, Hemlata Negi, the wife of former health minister Surendra Singh Negi, had maintained a lead from the first round itself. Independent candidate Vibha Chauhan was trailing by a margin of over 2,300 votes on this seat.BJP’s Usha Chaudhary was ahead of Congress candidate Mukta Singh by a margin of 5,034 votes at Kashipur.Congress state chief Pritam Singh said that the verdict was “a reflection of the decreasing popularity of the BJP among the people.” “Why will anyone vote for you when you have done nothing for them? The prices of petrol and essential commodities have shot over the roof. Development has come to a standstill and only false assurances are being made to the people,” said Singh. He added that “as per the results which have come till now, we have put up a good show across Uttarakhand and it has boosted our morale for the Lok Sabha polls.”On the other side, BJP state chief Ajay Bhatt termed it “a great result since the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the polls.”

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