Uttarakhand Elections: The odds of a new chief minister
In the 2007 polls, BJP came out as largest party with 35 seats, while the Congress won 21 seats Amid tight security, the polling for the single-phase Uttarakhand assembly elections 2017 began on Wednesday and the one question in everyone’s mind is whether this Himalayan state, which was carved out from the gigantic Uttar Pradesh in 2000, is going to have a new chief minister or the incumbent supremacy will continue. The rebel party leaders, certainly, hold the key in the outcome in the hilly state where two prominent parties – the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress — are trying every bit to seek the favour of every section of voters. Both parties expelled many leaders ahead of the elections, who then walked into the rival camps. While the BJP has fielded candidates, who have served the Congress, from 13 seats, the grand old party is trying its luck with seven erstwhile-BJP MLAs. In the last leg of the election campaign, the Congress vice-president Rahul...