Harish Rawat trails by 7,000 votes in Lal Kuan seat in Uttarakhand

As per the early counting trends, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is now trailing by over 7,000 votes from his nearest rival BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht in the Lal Kuan constituency.

At 10.30 a.m. as per the Election Commission data, Rawat got 7,939 votes while the BJP candidate is leading with 14,724 votes.

Rawat was a top contender for the Chief Minister's post if Congress gains a majority.

Congress' Special Observer for Uttarakhand Mohan Prakash on Wednesday expressed confidence that his party will get a full majority in the state and that the elected MLAs will decide the name of the Chief Minister's post. But, now it seems that Dehradun is quite far from the Congress as per the trends which may change in due course.

Prakash had said that the Congress will form its own government in the state without any support. However, it has a 'Plan B' and has reached out to BSP candidates who could be potential winners.

The Congress has rejected the exit poll claims that the party may not reach the magic figure and has asked the party workers to prepare for the big fight and not leave the counting centres till the last vote is counted.