BJP today scored a massive victory in Uttarakhand winning 56 of the 70 seats in the state to storm to power, reducing Congress to minuscule minority in the state Assembly with a poor tally of 11 seats.
Two seats went to Independents while counting in one seat is still underway.
It is for the first time in the 16-year history of Uttarakhand that a party has emerged with an impressive tally like this.
BJP leaders attributed it to the Narendra Modi wave and a strong anti-incumbency against Harish Rawat who lost both the seats he contested.
“While a strong Modi wave worked in our favour, there was a palpable anti-incumbency factor in the wake of corruption touching a new low under Harish Rawat,” Pradesh BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan who himself came out with flying colours from Vikasnagar in Dehradun told PTI.
Congress suffered a double whammy as Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay also lost in Sahaspur.
However, BJP also had its share of sad tiding as Pradesh party president Ajay Bhatt lost in Ranikhet — defeat party leaders attributed to a party rebel who was denied a ticket and had entered the fray as an independent.
The victory margin between Congress and BJP this time is massive as they were neck and neck in the last assembly polls with BJP winning only one seat less than Congress which formed government with the help of six-member PDF.