Uttarakhand Opinion Poll: Close fight between BJP, Congress; Harish Rawat popular choice for next CM

New Delhi, Jan 18: The BJP and Congress will have a close fight in the forthcoming Uttarakhand elections, a survey by Zee News said. The grand old party still has a slight edge over the saffron party with Harish Rawat emerging as the popular choice for the next Chief Minister of the state.

How Many Seats will Congress and BJP Win?

The survey findings say state that Congress is expected to win 33-37 seats while BJP is predicted to win 33-37 seats. In Garhwal region, the saffron party is predicted to garner 43 per cent of votes with 22-24 seats while the grand old party is expected to secure 38 per cent votes with 15-17 seats.

AAP is predicted to get 0-2 seats while others might get 0-1 seats.

In this region, Rawat is the most-preferred CM face with 43 per cent of respondents wanting him to become the next Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Whereas 23 per cent of respondents want current CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to occupy the seat again.

BJP's Anil Baluni and AAP's Col Ajay Kothiyal follow next with 17 per cent and 8 per cent vote shares, respectively, for the top position of the Hill state.

In the Kumaon region, Congress has an upper hand over BJP as 42 per cent of respondents want it to return to power. Whereas 38 per cent of the respondents want the saffron party to be in the power.
Interestingly, AAP is getting 10 per cent of votes.

While the BJP is forecasted to win 9-11 seats in this Kumaon region, Congress is predicted to win between 18-20 seats.

The polls in the state will be held in a single phase on 14 February. The notification for all 70 assembly seats will be issued by the EC on 21 January. The final date for filing nomination papers is 28 January, while candidates can withdraw their nominations by 31 January, as per the EC.

The date for scrutiny of the nomination papers is 29 January. The results of the Uttarakhand polls will be announced by EC on 10 March.