Bypoll To Decide Fate of Uttarakhand CM Dhami, Voting Underway for Champawat

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

(Photo: PTI)

The fate of Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will be decided soon as voting for the bypoll of the state's Champawat Assembly seat is underway on Tuesday, 31 May.

The voter turnout till 3 pm was recorded as 52 percent, as per The Times of India.

Despite playing a key role in winning the recently-concluded state Assembly polls in February this year, Dhami had lost from Khatima, a seat from where he had won twice before since the year 2012. He was appointed as the chief minister nonetheless.

In order to continue as CM, Dhami is required to win an assembly seat, making the Champawat poll a crucial one.

'Will Create History'

Dhami had earlier exuded confidence of winning the bypoll. On Tuesday, he said the district will "create history" with 100 percent voting.

"I extend my greetings to every voter from Champawat for the by-elections being held today. People have started coming to the polling centres. A new history of Champawat will be created today by 100 percent voting in the by-elections," he told the news agency ANI.

In the Assembly polls, the sitting CM had lost the Khatima seat to Congress's Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a difference of 6,579 votes. To make Dhami contest in the bypoll, Kailash Gehtori, BJP MLA from Champawat seat had resigned.

Congress's Nirmala Gehtori, Samajwadi Party's Manoj Kumar Bhatt and independent candidate Himanshu Gadkoti are the other candidates in the fray.

The results of the bypoll will be declared on 3 June.

(With inputs from ANI and The Times of India.)