2022 Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Uttarakhand on 14 February 2022 to elect 70 members of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022. Background. The tenure of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 23 March 2022. The previous assembly elections were held in February 2017. After the election, Bharatiya Janata Party formed the state government, with Trivendra Singh Rawat becoming Chief Minister. Political developments. Amidst the internal turmoil in the BJP Uttarakhand unit and the mounting pressure of BJP MLAs against himself, Chief  Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned on 9 March 2021. Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of the state on 10 March 2021. On 2 July 2021, Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from the Chief Minister's post to avoid constitutional crisis in the state. On 3 July 2021, Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn-in as the 10th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, assuming office on 4 July 2021. In January 2021, Arvind Kejriwal announced that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would be contesting in six state elections in 2022 including Uttarakhand. On 17 August 2021, AAP declared Ajay  Kothiyal as their Chief Ministerial candidate for the assembly election. Election schedule. The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India on 8 January 2022. Party manifestos. AAP. AAP asked the residents of Uttarakhand for suggestions for manifesto and received 71,249 replies. In addition to a main manifesto, the party will be releasing separate manifesto for each constituency. On 6 February, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal announced his party's 10-point manifesto for Uttarakhand if the AAP wins the election and forms the government. INC. INC released its manifesto on 2 February 2022 titled 'Uttarakhand Swabhiman Pratigya  Patra'. Earlier on 24 January 2022 the party launched its campaign for Uttarakhand with the tagline “Char Dham, Char Kaam”. The four ""kaam" (promises)" made in the manifesto are Campaigns. Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of farmers, campaigned against the ruling BJP by organizing public meetings and rallies asking farmers to not vote for BJP. SKM had organised the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest against the controversial three farm acts which were passed by the BJP-led Union Government in the BJP controlled Parliament of India in September 2020. These laws were eventually withdrawn by the Union government. On  31 January 2022, the farmer leaders observed ""Vishwasghat Diwas"" (treachery day) across India after the Union government failed to fulfill promises that were made to the farmers during the withdrawal of agitation against three farm laws. SKM leaders have warned that the farm laws may be re-introduced if BJP wins the elections. SKM leaders launched "Mission UP and Uttarakhand" and appealed to the voters to not vote for BJP calling them "anti-farmer". The appeal did not suggest to vote for any political party. SKM's appeal was supported by 57 farmer organisations. The campaign rallies were banned due  to Covid-19, so pandemic leaflets with the appeal were handed to the villagers. Policy positions. Farm Laws. BJP's Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in December 2021, had said that BJP brought the 3 agriculture amendment laws (repealed in 2021). "But the government is not disappointed. We moved a step back and we will move forward again because farmers are India’s backbone." The INC and AAP are against the farm laws and had supported the farmers' unions during their year-long protest against the farm laws. Poll prediction. Exit polls. The Election Commission banned the media from publishing  exit polls between 7 AM on 10 February 2022 and 6:30 PM on 7 March 2022. Violation of the directive would be punishable with two years of imprisonment. Accordingly the exit polls below were published in the evening of 7 March. Voter turnout. Source: External Links. Election Commission of Indian Candidate List