CM Dhami along with his family cast their vote in Khatima

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was among the early voters as polling commenced for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand on Friday. Accompanied by his mother and wife Geeta, Dhami stand in queue at the Nagra Terai polling station in Khatima. He expressed optimism about the electorate’s enthusiasm.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was among the early voters as polling commenced for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand on Friday. Accompanied by his mother and wife Geeta, Dhami queued up at the Nagra Terai polling station in Khatima to cast his vote, expressing optimism about the electorate’s enthusiasm.

Reflecting on the past decade’s progress in Uttarakhand, Dhami highlighted the unprecedented development and expressed confidence in voters endorsing Narendra Modi for a third term. He also emphasized the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), akin to the one passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly, to be implemented nationwide, referring to it as the “Ganga of UCC” originating from Uttarakhand.

With voting spanning 11,729 polling stations from 7 am to 5 pm, stringent security measures involving 40,000 personnel and 65 companies of central paramilitary forces were in place to ensure fair polling. Additionally, 1,365 polling stations were categorized as critical and 809 as vulnerable.

The five seats up for grabs are Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar, and the reserved seat of Almora. Over 83 lakh voters will decide among 55 candidates, including sitting BJP MPs and challengers from the Congress, BSP, and other parties. While the BJP replaced candidates in Haridwar and Pauri Garhwal, the Congress fielded contenders like former state chief Ganesh Godiyal and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s son, Virendra Rawat.

Traditional BJP-Congress rivalry is expected across all seats, with the BJP aiming to replicate its victories in the 2014 and 2019 elections.