Dehradun: Barring Almora, the lone reserved constituency in Uttarakhand, the remaining four seats in the Himalayan state have either been won by a Brahmin or a Thakur since 2004 with no member of a minority community managing a win. In the 2004 polls for instance, three Thakurs, one Brahmin and one SC candidate had won the polls and a similar trend was observed in 2009. In the 2014 polls, Thakurs and Brahmins had registered a win at two seats each and the reserved constituency of Almora went to an SC candidate.According to the 2011 census data, Uttarakhand has 82.97 per cent Hindus, 13.95 per cent Muslims, 0.37 per cent Christians, 2.34 per cent Sikhs, 0.15 per cent Buddhists, 0.09 per cent Jains and 0.01 per cent Other Religions.In 2004, Haridwar constituency was reserved for SC candidates and was won by Rajendra Kumar Badi of the Samajwadi Party. Seats in all other elections have either been won either by the Congress or the BJP. While the BJP won the remaining three seats of Pauri, Almora and Tehri, Congress nominee K C Singh Baba won from the Nainital constituency.In 2009, Congress candidates Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj, Pradeep Tamta, Harish Rawat and K C Singh Baba won from Tehri, Pauri, Almora, Haridwar and Nainital respectively. Similarly, in 2014, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Major Gen B C Khanduri (retd), Ajay Tamta, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Bhagat Singh Koshyari won from Tehri, Pauri, Almora, Haridwar and Nainital respectively.Political analysts say that the caste equation plays a key role in deciding who the voters choose which is why political parties keep the caste factor in mind while deciding candidates.Udit Ghildiyal, Dehradun-based poll watcher, said, “Caste dynamics are at play in elections across the country. In the stretch from Mainpuri to Etawah, there is dominance of Yadavs. Similarly, in Uttarakhand, Thakurs have dominated the show as they are high in number although Brahmins have also won polls.”

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