New Delhi: Overcoming heavy odds and proving most exit polls wrong, the BJP in Uttarakhand has returned to power with the party emerging victorious in 47 of the 70 assembly seats. This is the first time that any party has returned to power after the formation of the state in 2000.However, the BJP fell short of the 57 seats it had secured in the 2017 assembly elections. Besides, incumbent chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also lost from Khatima.In terms of vote share, the BJP, which had secured 46.5% in 2017, polled a little over 44% this time around. The Congress, on the other hand, improved its vote share by polling 38% of votes, up from the 33.5% it had in its kitty in 2017. While this did raise the party’s leads and victories to 19 assembly segments this time, up from 11 in 2017, the party and even exit polls had predicted a higher tally.Of the 70 seats in the state, 66 seats were won by Congress and BJP. In the remaining four, two independent candidates and two BSP candidates are have won.The CM jinx continuesThe election fought in the backdrop of a bitterly divisive campaign by the BJP – especially in the plains of Uttarakhand, and the anger of a large section of the population over the party’s handling of the farmers’ agitation – also threw a lot of surprises in terms of defeat of prominent leaders.Pushkar Singh Dhami was the most noticeable among them. He was the third chief minister in the outgoing BJP government. After replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat with Tirath Singh Rawat early last year following allegations of corruption against the latter, the BJP had also replaced Tirath in July 2021. Tirath lost his job after he made unsavoury remarks against women, and mishandled the COVID-19 crisis during the Kumbh Mela and an alleged vaccination scam. This was when Dhami was brought in.Also read: Uttarakhand Election Results: BJP Takes Comfortable Lead; CM Candidates TrailingThough Dhami was able to turn things around for the party, he could not win his own seat. He lost to Congress state working president Bhuwan Chandra Kapri in Khatima by by 6,579 votes. His loss meant the jinx that the sitting chief ministers have in the state – of losing their own seats – continued.Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Photo: Facebook/Pushkar Singh DhamiIn 2017, Harish Rawat had lost both from Haridwar (Rural) and Kicchha. Prior to that B.C. Khanduri had lost from Kotdwara in 2012. Nityanand Swami too had lost in 2002 while N.D. Tiwari did not contest in 2007.Harish Rawat loses, daughter winsIn the case of Harish Rawat – who had been made the chairperson of the campaign committee by the Congress this time – not only did he fail in galvanising the party to oust the trouble-laden BJP, he could not win his own seat. Rawat lost to Mohan Singh Bisht of the BJP by 17,527 votes.Rawat had earlier struggled to find a safe seat. He was first named from Ramnagar, but was later given Lal Kuan. The constituency proved tough from the beginning. He trailed from the word go and lost by a big margin.Rawat’s daughter and All India Mahila Congress general secretary, Anupama Rawat, however, managed to defeat cabinet minister Swami Yatishwaranand from Hardwar Rural by 4472 votes. The contest was keenly watched as the BSP had changed its candidate at the eleventh hour, replacing Darshan Sharma with Yunus Ansari.Mixed bag For the father-son duo of former cabinet minister Yashpal Arya and Sanjiv – who had in 2017 moved to the BJP from the Congress, but returned to the latter last year – the election turned out to be a mixed bag. While the senior Arya, who is one of the most prominent leaders from the Dalit community in the state, won his election from Bajpur, Sanjiv lost his from Nainital.A former speaker and transport minister in the BJP government, Yashpal Arya, had contested from Bajpur as a Congress candidate this time. The constituency had witnessed strong protests against the three farm laws. Riding the anger of the people against the ruling BJP, he defeated Rajesh Kumar of BJP by 1,611 votes. Sunita Tamta Bajwa of AAP came a respectable third, by securing over 18,000 votes. She is the wife of Samyukta Kisan Morcha leader Jagtar Singh Bajwa and was the Congress candidate in 2017.But Sanjiv could not retain his Nainital seat and lost to BJP’s Sarita Arya by 7,889 votes. Sunita had moved to the saffron party after leaving the Congress in January this year. Hem Chandra Arya, who had contested the 2017 election as an independent after leaving the BJP, and fought as an AAP candidate, polled over 2,500 votes.Meanwhile, Anukriti Gusain Rawat – the daughter-in-law of former cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat, who was given a Congress ticket from Lansdowne after Harak left the BJP and returned to the Congress – lost her election. She was defeated by Daleep Singh Rawat of the BJP by 9868 votes.BJP workers in Ranchi celebrate the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls. Photo: PTIFormer Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay, who joined the BJP in January 2022, won from the Tehri constituency. The Congress had given its ticket to sitting MLA Dhan Singh Negi hours after he quit the BJP. The assembly segment thus witnessed a battle between turncoats.BJP Uttarakhand president Madan Kaushik won from Hardwar by a margin of 15,237 votes after initially trailing against Satpal Brahmachari of the Congress. Brahmachari had also fought against four-term MLA Kaushik in 2012. Sanjay Saini of AAP came third.Speaker Premchand Aggarwal won his election from Rishikesh, defeating Jayendra Chand Ramola of Congress by 19,057 votes. This constituency is considered the gateway to the Char Dham region. The candidate of the Uttarakhand Janekta Party, Kanak Dhani, came third after securing over 13,000 votes.Most cabinet ministers winBJP’s cabinet minister Dhan Singh Rawat won a close fight against Congress state president Ganesh Godiyal from Srinagar by 247 votes. The two are traditional rivals from this seat. While Godiyal had won it in 2012, Rawat had bagged it in 2017.Cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal retained his Narendranagar seat by defeating Om Gopal Rawat, who recently left the party and joined the Congress, in another close contest and by only 1,798 votes. While Rawat had won the seat in 2007 on a BJP ticket, Uniyal had won it in 2012 on a Congress ticket and then in 2017 as a BJP candidate.Another Cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi also won his election from Mussoorie. He defeated Godavari Thapli of the Congress by 15,325 votes.Also read: BJP’s 2024 Ambitions Are on Track – But AAP Might Show Opposition the WaySitting MLA and cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj also won his election from Chaubattakhal quite comfortably. He defeated Keshar Singh of the Congress by 11,430 votes.Cabinet minister Banshidhar Bhagat also won his election from Kaladhungi. He defeated Mahesh Chandra of the Congress. Manju Tiwari of AAP came third after polling over 1,800 votes.BJP’s sitting MLA and education minister Arvind Pandey also won in a close contest from Gadarpur. This seat falls in the Terai region where the anger of the farmers against the BJP was palpable this time. In winning his election, Pandey turned a new leaf as till now in the history of Uttarakhand, no education minister had won his election. Pandey defeated Premanand Mahajan of the Congress, who had won the seat in 2002 and 2007, by 1,120 votes.Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Pritam Singh won the Chakrata seat for a record fifth straight time. He defeated Bollywood singer Jubin Nautiyal’s father Ramsharan Nautiyal by a big margin of 9,436 votes.