DEHRADUN, November 6 (Aalimi Nation) – Union Home Minister Amit Shah called on Friday for a third consecutive Bharatiya Janata Party win in Uttarakhand and set a target of more than 65 of the state's 70 Assembly seats in the elections expected early next year. He was addressing a public rally on the state's 26th Foundation Day.

Shah said the party had achieved a "hat-trick" in several states and would repeat it in Uttarakhand. The BJP won 57 seats in 2017 and 47 in 2022, the benchmarks he is asking party workers to exceed.

Uttarakhand election target and the BJP pitch

Shah said the Pushkar Singh Dhami government and the Centre were working together to keep development on track. He claimed tourism in the state had grown by 380 per cent and that Uttarakhand was moving from a "money-order economy" to an "industrial economy". These figures were presented by the minister at the rally and have not been independently verified.

On border areas, he accused the Congress of failing to build roads and stalling projects out of fear of Chinese intrusion. He said Rs 270 crore was being spent on 51 border villages under the Vibrant Villages programme. He also credited Atal Bihari Vajpayee with the creation of the state in 2000.

The Home Minister said the Uniform Civil Code would be implemented in all BJP-ruled states, pointing to Uttarakhand, which became the first state to bring it into force in January 2025, as the model.

Attacks on the Congress

Shah was sharply critical of the opposition. He said Rahul Gandhi was upset when action was ordered against encroachments on 29 acres of government land in Haldwani, a dispute that remains a local political issue. He described Gandhi's "Vote Bachao Yatra" as a "Ghuspethiya Bachao Yatra", a reference to alleged infiltrators, and called for the removal of ineligible names from electoral rolls.

The Congress response to these remarks was not available in the reports reviewed.

Chief Minister's remarks

Chief Minister Dhami, who shared the stage, said some people question electronic voting machines and the electoral process after losing elections. He criticised the Congress for staying silent over remarks by Gandhi about National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and over a comment by an ally, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, describing the people of Uttarakhand as "infiltrators". Dhami also claimed his government had jailed more than 100 members of an exam-cheating network and provided jobs to over 35,000 young people. These are the chief minister's claims and were not independently checked.

Earlier in the day, Shah attended an investiture ceremony in Dehradun at which the President's Police Colour was awarded to the Uttarakhand Police.

Background and what next

Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000. Elections to its 70-member Assembly are due in early 2027, and the BJP currently governs the state. The Election Commission has not yet announced the poll schedule.