Photos: Harish Rawat hosts 'victory' bash in Dehradun

Confident that the Congress "will win an absolute majority in Uttarakhand", former chief minister and senior leader Harish Rawat threw a party on Sunday and followed it up with a media interaction on Monday.

"The party (Congress) will win 48 of 70 seats. The number may vary by one or two seats, but we will be fairly close to the 50-seat mark," Rawat announced.

Rawat said, "It's not so much a fight between Congress and BJP as it is between the ruling party and the common man. People are fed up with the BJP. The common man felt cheated when BJP changed three CMs. It did not go down well with residents suffering from inflation, unemployment, migration and the poor state of basic facilities."

The BJP was quick to respond. It said it will "come back to power by winning 60 of 70 seats".

A veteran poll watcher said, "Due to several factors, the contest between the two major parties in Uttarakhand is closer than ever. For the BJP, the (PM) Modi factor has been a major boost. Congress has anti-incumbency on its side and its promise of providing LPG cylinders for less than Rs 500 has been welcomed."