CM Dhami loses, BJP to retain power in Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand, BJP is far ahead in the race and set to  secure a record second consecutive term in the state with a lead in 48 of the 70 Assembly seats. However, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost by 6,951 votes from Khatima constituency to Congress' Bhuwan Chandra Kapri. While Dhami polled 40,675 votes, Kapri bagged 47,626 votes.With 28,251 votes in kitty, Congress veteran Harish Rawat is also trailing by over 16,000 votes to his nearest BJP rival Mohan Singh Bisht (44,851) from Lalkuwa. Both Dhami and Rawat led the campaigns of their respective parties in the election. BJP so far managed to bag about 44 per cent of the votes, the Congress had a little over 38 per cent votes in Uttarakhand. 

Dhami was clearly the BJP's CM face as the party was seeking a full five-year-term for the "young and dynamic" leader to deliver on the party's grand vision for Uttarakhand's development. Dhami was the third BJP leader to head the state in the last five years, the two others being Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat. The Congress had not declared Rawat as its chief ministerial candidate. "I cannot understand that after such massive inflation, if this was the public's mandate, what is the definition of public welfare & social justice?...I can't understand people saying 'BJP zindabaad' after this: Harish Rawat said. In Dehradun, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvergiya  has said that victory in Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh makes it clear that people will make Narendra Modi PM again in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.