Uttarakhand: Champawat goes to polls tomorrow to decide fate of Dhami as CM

Pushkar Singh Dhami must win from Champawat to make it to the state assembly as an MLA - a constitutional requirement for him to remain a CM.

Bypoll for the Champawat assembly seat in Uttarakhand will be held on May 31 deciding the fate of four candidates, including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s, whose continuance in office depends on its result.

Although Mr. Dhami steered the party to a big victory in Uttarakhand assembly polls in February, he had lost from Khatima - a seat he had won twice since 2012.

Mr. Dhami’s defeat was attributed by political analysts to his inability to focus on his own constituency, as he was preoccupied with the party’s overall performance as its chief ministerial face.

Mr. Dhami must win from Champawat to make it to the state assembly as an MLA - a constitutional requirement for him to remain a CM. The seat had gone to the BJP in the state assembly polls.

When the party made him chief minister once again despite his loss, Champawat's sitting MLA Kailash Gehtori was the first to offer to vacate his seat for him. Keeping his word, he resigned as an MLA from Champawat on April 21 to pave the way for the chief minister to make a fresh bid for the state assembly.

The BJP, which won the state polls for a second term in a row with a two-thirds majority, is sure of Mr. Dhami's victory with a record margin.

Its optimism is hinged on the young chief minister's popularity, as well as the past trend, according to which chief ministers in Uttarakhand have never lost a bypoll.