The Jaunsar-Bawar valley of western Uttarakhand has nearly 400 Dalit settlements. The Charkrata constituency, under which it falls, is one of Uttarakhand's 15 reserved seats. In a state where Dalits account for nearly 18 per cent of the electorate, 15 out of 70 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes. In 2012, the Congress had won seven, the BJP six and two of the reserved seats went to Mayawati's BSP.
