ExplainedUttarakhand election
Uttarakhand election 2027: 70 seats, a BJP bid for a third term and the issues in play
In 2022 the BJP became the first party to win Uttarakhand twice in a row, even as its Chief Minister lost his own seat. How the hill state voted, what the BJP and the Congress are running on, and when it votes next.
The short answer
Uttarakhand's 70-member assembly needs 36 seats for a majority, and its term ends in March 2027, so the state is expected to vote in February or March. In 2022 the BJP won 47 seats with 44.33% of the vote and the Congress 19, making the BJP the first party to win consecutive terms there. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost Khatima by 6,579 votes but stayed in office and won the Champawat by-election in June 2022 with 92.94% of the vote. The BJP will contest under Dhami; the Congress, led in the state by Ganesh Godiyal, is campaigning on law and order, women's safety and the Ankita Bhandari case.
Uttarakhand votes for a new assembly in early 2027, and the question at the centre of the contest is whether the BJP can win the hill state for a third time in a row. The current House’s five-year term ends in March 2027. The Election Commission has not announced dates, but its officials have already reviewed the state’s preparations, and polling is expected in February or March along with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
How many seats are there, and what does it take to win?
70 seats, and 36 for a majority. The state, carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, has 13 districts across two regions, Garhwal and Kumaon, and its assembly sits in Dehradun. In 2022 the BJP won 47 seats with 44.33% of the vote, about two points less than its 46.51% in 2017. The Congress won 19 and the remaining four seats went to others.
The result broke a pattern. Until 2022, Uttarakhand had voted out its ruling party at every election, and the BJP became the first party to be re-elected in the state.
What happened to the Chief Minister in 2022?
He lost his own seat and kept his job. Pushkar Singh Dhami, who led the BJP into the election, lost Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district to the Congress’s Bhuwan Chandra Kapri, with 41,598 votes against 48,177, a margin of 6,579. Former Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat and AAP’s chief ministerial candidate Ajay Kothiyal also lost.
The BJP chose Dhami as Chief Minister anyway. He then contested a by-election in Champawat and won it in June 2022 with 58,258 of the 62,683 votes polled, or 92.94%, beating the Congress’s Nirmala Gahtori by 55,025 votes. The BJP has said it will fight the 2027 election under his leadership.
Dhami's two contests in 2022
- 6,579votes he lost Khatima by, March 2022
- 92.94%his vote share in the Champawat by-election, June 2022
- 55,025his winning margin in Champawat
What is the BJP running on?
Its record, the Uniform Civil Code and a campaign against the opposition’s attack on the voter rolls. Uttarakhand became the first state to bring a Uniform Civil Code into force, on January 27, 2025. The law, passed by the assembly on February 7, 2024, bans polygamy, halala and triple talaq, requires live-in relationships to be registered, and sets out a single process for registering marriages, divorces and wills. In less than a year, 4,74,447 marriages were registered, against an average of 67 a day before the code. Dhami says the code is not against any religion.
The government also points to pilgrim numbers: more than 60 lakh people made the Char Dham Yatra in 2026, which Dhami called a record. On October 22, he launched the BJP’s “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” (save democracy, remove anarchy) campaign in all 13 districts, which accuses the Congress of undermining trust in the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was due to lead its biggest padyatra and rally, at Dehradun’s Parade Ground, on November 6.
What is the Congress running on?
Law and order, women’s safety and jobs. On November 2, party president Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a review of the state’s preparations in Delhi with Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, the general secretary in charge Kumari Selja and state Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal.
A collapsed law-and-order system, serious questions over women’s safety, the arrogance of power.
Venugopal pointed to leaked exam papers and what he called “a mockery of justice” in the Ankita Bhandari case. Ankita, a 19-year-old resort receptionist near Rishikesh, was murdered on September 18, 2022. The resort’s owner, Pulkit Arya, the son of a former BJP leader, and two staff members were sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2025. Her family has long alleged that an unnamed “VIP” was linked to the crime; in October 2026 her parents protested in Delhi against BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s appointment as Governor of Sikkim. Gautam denies any role, and the allegations against him are unproven.
What are the key dates?
Uttarakhand, 2022 to 2027
- Mar 10, 2022BJP wins 47 of 70 seats; Dhami loses Khatima.
- Jun 3, 2022Dhami wins the Champawat by-election with 92.94% of the vote.
- Feb 7, 2024Assembly passes the Uniform Civil Code Bill.
- Jan 27, 2025Uniform Civil Code comes into force.
- Oct 2026Election Commission officials review the state's poll preparations.
- Oct 22, 2026BJP launches its statewide campaign in all 13 districts.
- Mar 2027Assembly's term ends; polls expected in February or March.
What will decide the result?
Whether the 2022 pattern holds. The BJP’s 2022 win showed that the old habit of voting out the ruling party can be broken, but its vote share slipped by about two points even then. The Congress has to turn its attacks on law and order and individual cases into a statewide swing. With the census count running in the state’s non-snowbound areas from December 1, 2026, to January 4, 2027, the schedule is expected only after that work and the Election Commission’s reviews are complete.