Congress on a winning streak in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is virtually on cloud nine. At a time when the Congress is finding it difficult to recover from the shock of a humiliating defeat in the general elections last year, the party has regained some of its lost ground, at least in Uttarakhand. 

After bagging three Assembly seats in the by-elections in July last year, the ruling party on Wednesday won the crucial Bhagwanpur Assembly seat. The party's candidate, Mamata Rakesh, trounced Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajpal Singh by a comfortable margin of about 36,909 votes. The by-election for Bhagwanpur, held on April 11, was necessitated following the death of state transport minister Surendra Rakesh in February. Mamta is the widow of Rakesh. With this victory, Congress has also been able to get an absolute majority in the 70-member House, where its strength has now reached the magic figure of 36.  In July 2014, the party had won all three assembly seats where by-elections were held. After winning the election, Mamata demanded a Cabinet berth for herself. "Bhagwanpur must get back all the honour which was bestowed on my late husband," she said. 

The CM, being credited for these victories, was quick to welcome the result. "We will continue our struggle and prepare ourselves for the 2017 Assembly polls," he said. State Congress President Kishore Upadhayay also welcomed the victory.

"We are thankful to the people of Bhagwanpur for giving us this crucial seat," he said. Party observers said the candidates managed to win all four seats due to the good managerial skills of the CM, which include selection of better candidates. 

Meanwhile, the party workers distributed sweets and burst crackers at the party  headquarters here to celebrate the victory. 

On the other hand, the CM would soon take a decision on who will fill the berth in the state Cabinet that fell vacant after Rakesh's death.