Exit polls on Thursday largely backed BJP over Congress, which will be ruing CM Harish Rawat’s campaign tactics.
In his stumping, Rawat was often seen pitching it as personal battle fought between himself and Narendra Modi. What also went against Rawat was seat allocation which angered many party cadres. To boot, a few faithfuls decamped and joined BJP before the election.
BJP left no stone unturned in calling attention to Rawat’s autocratic working style.
In 2012 Congress swept to power winning 32 seats, while BJP came second with a slender margin. With a population of over 10 million, the state has Thakurs and Brahmins constitute 60 percnet – a major vote bank for the BJP.
BJP’s candidate for CM BC Khanduri will be thanking his stars, and surely also his voters.