Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami wins crucial Champawat bypoll

Dhami, who had lost the Khatima seat in the State Assembly polls, contested from Champawat to become an MLA and continue as CM

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami won the Champawat bypoll by a margin of over 55,000 votes. This was a much-needed victory for Dhami to continue to remain as the chief minister as he had lost the state Assembly polls held earlier this year despite the BJP's landslide victory.

"BJP registers win in Champawat by-elections," Dhami said in a tweet.

Dhami secured 58,258 votes against Congress candidate Nirmala Gahatodi who grabbed only 3,233 votes. Apart from Dhami and Congress' Gahatodi, Manoj Kumar Bhatt from Samajwadi Party and Independent candidate Himanshu Gadkoti were also in the fray. The polling took place on May 31.

Uttarakhand BJP president Madan Kaushik congratulated Dhami on the win.

"Hearty congratulations and best wishes to the Honorable Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Dhamiji on winning the Champawat by-election with huge votes," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who campaigned for Dhami ahead of the polling and held a roadshow with him in Tanakpur in the Champawat district, also congratulated Dhami for the "historic" victory.

Adityanath said that this victory is dedicated to the people's welfare policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dhami's leadership and the hard work of BJP workers.

"Hearty congratulations to the successful Chief Minister of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, Shri Pushkar Dhami ji for winning the historic victory in the Champawat Vidhan Sabha by-election. This victory is dedicated to the people's welfare policies of the respected Prime Minister, your developmental leadership and the hard work of BJP workers," said Adityanath, who also hails from Uttarakhand, in a tweet.

Dhami, who had lost the Khatima seat in the State Assembly polls, contested from Champawat to become an MLA. According to the Constitution, he needs to fulfil this requirement within six months of being sworn in to continue as the chief minister.

Dhami lost the Khatima constituency to candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes. Later, BJP MLA Kailash Gehtori resigned from the Champawat assembly seat to pave the way for Dhami to contest by-polls.

The Chief Minister visited a polling booth today in Banbasa and also offered prayers at a temple in Khatima. Earlier, he exuded confidence in winning the bypoll stating that it is not "even a party poll now" as the people will vote for him.

The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand, bagging 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly, crushing the Congress' hopes of returning to power.