Pushkar Singh Dhami wins Champawat bypolls by 55,000 votes, retains CM post

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on his victory.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami (Twitter/@tsrawatbjp)

Confirming his seat in the Uttarakhand Assembly and securing his post as the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday registered a massive victory in the bypolls held for the Champawat constituency seat.

As per Election Commission data, Dhami received 58,258 votes (92.94 per cent) in total, against just 3,233 (5.16 per cent) votes secured by Congress candidate Nirmala Gahtori. The margin of victory was over 55,000 votes. Voting for the Champawat seat, which was vacated for Dhami by former BJP MLA Kailash Chandra Gahtori, took place on Tuesday.

Following his victory, Dhami took to Twitter and thanked the people of Champawat for “showering their love and blessings” in the form of votes. “My heart is very emotional at the time and I have no words,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

In the recently held Assembly polls, BJP won 47 out of the 70 seats. Congress won 19 seats while BSP and Independents bagged two seats each. While the BJP became the first ruling party to be voted back to power in Uttarakhand, Dhami lost the election from the Khatima seat to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.

With the party reposing faith in him and Dhami returning as chief minister, it was imperative that he get elected to the Uttarakhand Assembly within six months from the date he took over. Dhami was sworn in as chief minister of Uttarakhand on March 23.

Congratulations to Uttarakhand’s dynamic CM @pushkardhami for the record win from Champawat. I am confident he will work even harder for the progress of Uttarakhand. I thank the people of Champawat for placing their faith in BJP and laud our Karyakartas for their hardwork.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 3, 2022

Later, Kailash Chandra Gahtori resigned from his seat to make way for Dhami. Congress announced the name of senior party leader Nirmala Gahtori as its candidate to contest against Dhami. Nirmala replaced Hemesh Kharkwal, who was a Congress candidate from the seat in the last five elections since the formation of the state.

With the results announced, several senior BJP leaders congratulated Dhami on his victory. Those who congratulated Dhami on Twitter included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP president JP Nadda, Uttarakhand BJP state president Madan Kaushik, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram