Khanduri silences critics with big win in Dhumakot

The emphatic win of Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri on Sunday in the Dhumakot by-election has again given a clear signal to his political opponents...

The emphatic win of Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri on Sunday in the Dhumakot by-election has again given a clear signal to his political opponents within and outside the ruling BJP that he is in total control. Khanduri defeated Surinder Singh Negi of the Congress by a huge margin of more than 14,000 votes. Khanduri got 22,708 votes, while Negi managed to get only 8,537 votes. After the win, the Chief Minister who is a member of the Lok Sabha, is expected to resign his seat.

Khanduri, a former Union Minister, was made the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand by the BJP leadership in February this year amidst protests by the state party leadership. Former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was also a frontrunner for the top post, but finally lost the race after failing to garner support of the top party leadership.

The Chief Minister staged a coup of sorts by winning over TPS Rawat, a senior Congress leader and former minister, who switched sides to join the BJP and vacated the Dhumakot Assembly segment.

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Though the state Congress did everything possible to make things difficult for Khanduri on his way to the state Assembly, voters of Dhumakot voted overwhelmingly for the Chief Minister. All the top Congress leaders campaigned vigorously for Negi and hoped that fissures in the ruling BJP would benefit them.

As BJP workers were seen celebrating Khanduri’s win there was complete despair and despondency in the rival Congress camp. Ajendra Ajay, BJP spokesman, said that the defeat of the Congress showed that the people of the state have complete faith in the Chief Minister’s leadership.

After the result was declared, Khanduri along with Rawat addressed a well-attended rally at Dhumakot on Sunday to thank the voters.

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