Uttarakhand goes to polls in shadow of dharam sansad row

About two months before the Uttarakhand Assembly election, the hilly state grabbed national headlines for hate speeches given at a dharam sansad (religious congregation) held in Haridwar. Attended by several top Hindu seers, some participants allegedly gave inflammatory speeches calling for violence against Muslims.

Coming so close to the assembly election, the dharam sansad was considered to be a major factor in the Uttarakhand polls, and helped the Congress against the ruling BJP. However, the hate speeches at the dharam sansad did not find resonance in the election campaign.