Corruption, lack of governance cost Cong: Uttarakhand BJP leaders

New Delhi, Feb 27 (UNI) More than the price rise and anti-incumbency factor, it is the absence of governance, corruption and lack of development that have been the Congress's undoing in the hill state of Uttarakhand.

That is how state BJP leaders see the reasons for their victory in the Assembly elections results of which were announced today.

Having bagged 34 seats out of 69 elections for which were held, the BJP was just one short of absolute majority in the state, far ahead of the Congress's 21.

The BSP has got eight seats. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) two and Independents won three. However, the Samajwadi Party and the Uma Bharti-led Bharatiya Jan Shakti failed to register any win.

This was the second time that the state went to Assembly polls after it was carved out of the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh in 2000 following a prolonged struggle by the people of the area protesting the neglect of their region.

The BJP had formed the government in the state when the Assembly was bifurcated at the time of creation of the state. It was, however, dislodged from power by the Congress in the first Assembly election two years later.

While starting their electioneering in the state, the BJP had said it would concentrate on the issue of development and corruption as these were the issues.

''During the last five years of the Congress rule, things have gone from bad to worse. The law and order had deteriorated and people had to cough out a hefty bribe to get even their routine work done,'' senior BJP leader and one of the strongest contender for chief ministership of the state Maj Gen (Retd) B C Khanduri told UNI.

''The results are not unexpected going by the mood of the people we gauged during the electioneering in the hill state,'' Mr Khandoori said.

He said he saw two factors in BJP's good showing in the state.

First was the misrule of the Congress which had disillusioned even its die hard supporters and secondly the role of the BJP in the creation of the hill state.

''We simply concentrated on informing the masses how the Congress completely neglected the agenda of development in the state, and that has worked as you can seen from the results of the elections,'' he said.

Another senior BJP leader and MP from the state Bacchi Singh Rawat also feels that corruption of lack of good governance were the major factors that contributed to the Congress defeat.

''As far as the issues of price rise was concerned, it is there for the whole country. And anti-incumbancy might also be a factor but it was corruption and total lack of development that tilted the balance in favour of the BJP,'' Mr Rawat told UNI.

However, the Congress dismissed their analyses, saying that it was mainly anti-incumbency factor that might be the reason for their defeat in Uttarakhand.

State Congress chief Harish Rawat asserts that the Congress has been paying attention to the development of the state during all these five years. ''We have lost despite that. You always be prepared for such things in a democratic system,'' he said.

In the outgoing 70-Member Assembly, the BJP had 19 MLAs against the Congress's 36. The BSP had emerged as third largest party while the regional Uttarakhand Kranti Dal(UKD) had to remain content with the fourth place.

The Independents had got three and the Nationalist Congress Party one.

UNI