Dehradun: It will be a test for Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami as the Champawat assembly seat in the state goes for polling today (May 31). The elections began in the morning and Dhami, who lost from Khatima in the state assembly polls held in February, is trying his luck from Champawat to become an MLA. This is a constitutional requirement he needs to fulfill within six months of being sworn in. Former BJP MLA Kailash Gehtori had resigned from Champawat last month to make way for Dhami to contest from the seat.
Dhami is locked in a straight contest with Congress' Nirmala Gehtori in Champawat located in Kumaon region of the state. Other candidates in the fray are Samajwadi Party's Manoj Kumar Bhatt and Independent Himanshu Gadkoti. Dhami campaigned aggressively in Champawat along with Kailash Gehtori after filing his nominations on May 9 to seek votes, asking people to give him an opportunity to serve them.
BJP star campaigner and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also canvassed for Dhami in Tanakpur, asking the people of the constituency not to waste the chance of electing a Chief Minister for their rapid development.
Earlier, Dhami motivated the locals to participate in the Champawat polls. He walked the lanes of Nai Basti in Banbasa where he met numerous people ahead of the polls. Dhami exuded confidence in winning the bypoll stating that it is not "even a party poll now" as the people will vote for him. He also held a roadshow in the Madli Talli town of Champawat district on Friday (May 27).
There are 96,213 voters in the Champawat constituency, including 50,171 men and 46,042 women. Presently Dhami is not a member of the state legislative assembly. Dhami had lost to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes.
(With Agency inputs)
