By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
With the Uttarakhand Assembly elections approaching early next year, the ruling BJP and opposition Congress have launched rival political campaigns across the state, setting the stage for an intensifying battle over governance, public grievances and competing political narratives.
While the Congress began its ‘Uttarakhand Nyay Yatra’ on Thursday to highlight what it calls the failures and anti-people policies of the BJP government, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced a counter-campaign, titled ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy), accusing the opposition of spreading a false narrative.
Dhami announced the BJP campaign at a press conference at the state party headquarters, saying it would inform people about the truth and facts and counter what he described as the Congress’s misleading claims. The first phase will feature three major marches: in Srinagar Garhwal on October 31, Dehradun on November 2 and Rudrapur on November 3. The campaign will subsequently be extended to all 13 districts of Uttarakhand, he said.
The Congress, meanwhile, has planned its Nyay Yatra through all 70 Assembly constituencies, with party leaders and workers taking out marches from different locations after offering prayers at prominent temples.
The first group, led by state Congress president Ganesh Godiyal and MLAs Vikram Singh Negi and Lakhpat Butola, state Congress chief Jyoti Rautela, began its campaign after prayers at Badrinath temple. Later, marches were held in Badrinath, Joshimath, Pipalkoti and Chamoli.
In Dehradun, the Congress yatra began at Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple under the leadership of Pritam Singh, chairman of the party’s state election campaign committee and Chakrata MLA. Former chief minister Harish Rawat also participated. Marches were also held along Rajpur Road, from the party headquarters via Gandhi Park to the Rajiv Gandhi Complex, while a separate march took place in Mussoorie.
A third group, led by Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya, former state Congress president Karan Mahara and MLAs Bhuvan Kapri and Tilak Raj Behad, launched its yatra after prayers at the Golju temple in Almora. Marches were organised in Ranikhet, Khairna, Bhawali, Bhimtal and Haldwani.
Addressing the gathering at Badrinath, Godiyal accused the BJP of failing to safeguard offerings made by devotees at Badrinath and the Ram temple in Ayodhya, despite its claims of championing Sanatan Dharma and religious faith. He said the issue concerned the faith and sentiments of crores of devotees in India and abroad.
Godiyal also criticised the state government over education, healthcare, roads, drinking water and employment, besides rising wildlife attacks, alleged corruption and what he described as the control of state resources by outsiders and influential people.
Calling the Nyay Yatra a mass movement rather than merely a political programme, he said the Congress would reach villages, towns and households to highlight public grievances and expose what it considers the BJP government’s failures.
The BJP’s counter-campaign and the Congress’s statewide yatra mark an early escalation in the political contest ahead of the Assembly elections, with both parties seeking to shape public opinion around their respective claims and priorities.