In Mussoorie seat, Joshi eyes hattrick, Congress desperate to avenge 2017 poll loss

Dehradun/Mussoorie: Incumbent Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi, who has won the seat twice in succession, is eyeing a hat-trick this time. However, analysts say this won’t be easy as he faces strong anti-incumbency. Besides, Congress candidate Godavari Thapli, who lost from the seat by 10,000 votes against Joshi in 2017, has been making inroads in the constituency.
Local Congress leaders are also confident of their party’s victory.“There is strong anti-incumbency and resentment against Joshi. During his two terms as an MLA, he has completely failed to address critical development issues,” said former Congress MLA Jot Singh Gunsola.
Countering the allegation, BJP leaders claim that Joshi has been instrumental in implementing several development projects in the constituency. “A number of projects like construction of town hall building, parking for more than 200 vehicles at Kincraig, construction of multi-specialty hospital and a mega-project for pumping potable water from Yamuna have been undertaken in his tenure,” said Satish Dhoundhiyal, a senior BJP leader.
Joshi also makes a similar claim. “To boost tourism, we constructed a museum at George Everest House, a restroom, a trekking route and an amphitheatre at a cost of Rs 23 crore. We also put a parking management system in place,” Joshi said.
He added, “To encourage computer education, computers were provided in various schools in the constituency.”
Meanwhile, for Congress, dealing with infighting seems to be a big issue. Factionalism within the party had cost Congress the Mussoorie seat in both 2012 and 2017 state elections. However, Thapli denies any rift within the party this time. “We will be fighting as a cohesive unit in the upcoming elections,” she said.
Apart from Joshi and Thapli, independent candidate Manish Gauniyal can also make a difference in the election, according to poll watchers.A resident of Johri village, Gauniyal might cut votes of both BJP and Congress in the area, which has a strong population of Gorkhas and ex-servicemen.
According to the Election Commission data, the Mussoorie constituency has 1,30,677 voters -- including 68,350 men and 62,307 women. The constituency also has 1,250 service voters.