The four-month long process of Assembly elections 2017 has finally come to an end with the selection of last but perhaps most crucial Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The election process for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur was filled with many twists and turns but nothing matches the high-pitched drama that envisaged post polls.
While Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand gave an overwhelming mandate in favour of PM Modi-led BJP, Punjab did the same for Congress. Real drama ensued in Goa and Manipur, where BJP’s shrewd politics enabled it to sneak elections right under the noses of Congress party leaders, who were otherwise in majority vis-à-vis BJP.
BJP took a jiffy to decide CMs in Goa and Manipur but certainly took its time in deciding CMs for Uttarakhand and BJP. But after all was said and done, UP CM’s name threw another curveball.
Let’s have a look at the final crown bearers of the five states that went to poll in the Assembly elections battle 2017:
Yogi Adityanath: Uttar Pradesh
Firebrand BJP leader and seer Yogi Adityanath received a huge reward on Saturday for his hard work done during the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections after the BJP anointed him as the legislative party leader.
The five-time MP with Hindutva leanings was already being touted as a front-runner for the coveted CM post of the politically-prized state.
BJP's emphatic victory too suggested that the party may go with the popular sentiments and Yogi's name emerged as the crowd favourite during the legislative party meeting.
And it is fair to say that the Lok Sabha member from Gorakhpur has gradually become the mascot of the party's Hindutva-wrapped agenda of development.
Trivendra Singh Rawat: Uttarakhand
From an obscuren RSS pracharak for Dehradun city to the chief ministership of Uttarakhand, it has been an amazing journey for Trivendra Singh Rawat whose fierce loyalty to the BJP and RSS saw him pip rival heavyweights likeSatpal Maharaj to the post.
Coupled with his administrative and organisational skills and experience, his loyalty to the party and RSS ideology seemed to have won the day for him.
His organisational skills were put to test in Jharkhand where he came out with flying colours, guiding the BJP to are sounding electoral victory in the assembly polls in 2014 as party in-charge.
Rawat also has considerable administrative experience as he was a minister in the BJP governments led by B C Khanduriand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
Amarinder Singh: Punjab
One of the strongest regional satraps of the Congress, Amarinder Singh put the party back in the saddle in Punjab after the “father of all battles” that decimated the SAD and crushed the AAP’s dream of expanding its footprint beyond Delhi.
Belonging to a very rare breed of politicians who have seen action in the Indo-Pak war, Singh this time tasted success after Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal foiled his previous attempts to become chief minister in 2007 and 2012.
Once a leader of the Akali Dal, the ‘scion of Patiala’ fought in the 1965 war after he rejoined the army a few months after his resignation. He again resigned from the Services as a decorated soldier at the conclusion of the war.
The maharaja’s win in Punjab after 10 years has also rekindled the hopes for the revival of the grand old party.
One of the strongest regional satraps of the Congress, Amarinder Singh put the party back in the saddle in Punjab after the “father of all battles” that decimated the SAD and crushed the AAP’s dream of expanding its footprint beyond Delhi.
Belonging to a very rare breed of politicians who have seen action in the Indo-Pak war, Singh this time tasted success after Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal foiled his previous attempts to become chief minister in 2007 and 2012.
Once a leader of the Akali Dal, the ‘scion of Patiala’ fought in the 1965 war after he rejoined the army a few months after his resignation. He again resigned from the Services as a decorated soldier at the conclusion of the war.
The maharaja’s win in Punjab after 10 years has also rekindled the hopes for the revival of the grand old party.
Manohar Parrikar: Goa
CM who gave up most to relish the CM post in his home state, Manohar Parrikar had to quit the post of Defence minister of India for Goa throne.
Parrikar he had been holding the defence portfolio since November 2014 after the first reshuffle of the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
He was first elected to the second legislative assembly of Goa in 1994. Later, he rose to become the Leader of Opposition from June to November 1999. Parrikar became the Chief Minister for the first time on October 24, 2000, but his tenure lasted only till February 27, 2002. On June 5, 2002, he was re-elected and became the Chief Minister again.
Parrikar has served as the Chief Minister of Goa in three terms — 2000-2002, and 2002-2005 and later from March 2012 till November 2014.
Parrikar, who took the BJP to victory in the 2012 Goa assembly polls, had resigned as the Chief Minister and took over as the Defence Minister on November 9, 2014.
CM who gave up most to relish the CM post in his home state, Manohar Parrikar had to quit the post of Defence minister of India for Goa throne.
Parrikar he had been holding the defence portfolio since November 2014 after the first reshuffle of the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
He was first elected to the second legislative assembly of Goa in 1994. Later, he rose to become the Leader of Opposition from June to November 1999. Parrikar became the Chief Minister for the first time on October 24, 2000, but his tenure lasted only till February 27, 2002. On June 5, 2002, he was re-elected and became the Chief Minister again.
Parrikar has served as the Chief Minister of Goa in three terms — 2000-2002, and 2002-2005 and later from March 2012 till November 2014.
Parrikar, who took the BJP to victory in the 2012 Goa assembly polls, had resigned as the Chief Minister and took over as the Defence Minister on November 9, 2014.
N Biren Singh: Manipur
A graduate from Manipur University in Arts, Nongthombam Biren Singh hails from Luwangsangbam Mamang Leikai, a rural area in Imphal East district and has been representing Heingang Assembly constituency in the district since 2002.
The 56-year-old politician, who has been a national-level footballer, served in the central paramilitary forces and also worked as an editor of a local newspaper.
His foray into active politics began in June 2001, when he along with other leaders started the Democratic Revolutionary People’s Party. Subsequently he joined the Congress and served along-side Ibobi Singh.
He left the Congress to join the BJP in October 2016, hardly five months before the 2017 Assembly polls.
Biren Singh has also served in BSF and worked as a journalist.
