Voting for Uttarakhand local body polls underway, CM Pushkar Dhami urges voters to elect BJP candidates

A total of 5,405 candidates are in the fray. (File photo/PTI)

The voting for the high-stakes local body polls is underway in Uttarakhand with 5,405 candidates in the fray. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami appealed to the people to help make all the BJP candidates emerge victorious.

Referring to the BJP government at the Centre and state, he asked voters to help form a triple-engine government, ANI reported.

The voting began at 8 am on Thursday and will continue till evening for a total of 100 municipal bodies in the state including 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipalities and 46 Nagar Panchayats. Counting of votes is scheduled for January 25.

There are 72 candidates running for 11 mayoral posts, 445 for municipal council chairperson posts and 4,888 for municipal councillors' posts. A total of 30,29,000 voters are likely to participate in the polls spread over 1282 wards in the state, Uttarakhand State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar said, PTI reported.

There are 1,515 polling centres in the state and 3,394 polling booths, he said.

BJP, Congress electoral showdown

The stage has been set for an electoral showdown between the ruling BJP and the Congress in Uttarakhand with the urban local body polls. Campaigning ended on Tuesday with both parties throwing all their might to woo voters.

BJP's star campaigner Pushkar Singh Dhami held a series of public meetings and roadshows across the state during the nearly three-week long campaign seeking votes for a "triple-engine" government to keep the pace of development uninterrupted.

Senior leaders like former chief minister Harish Rawat, state party president Karan Mahra, Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya, former state chief Ganesh Godiyal and Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh had led the Congress's campaign.

The Congress lost all five Lok Sabha seats in the state to the BJP for a third consecutive time last year after being routed by the party in the state assembly polls held in 2022.