Champawat bypoll: CM Yogi Adityanath among 40 BJP leaders to campaign for Pushkar Singh Dhami

Image courtesy: ANI

Dehradun: The forthcoming bypoll to the Champawat Assembly constituency, from where Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is trying his luck, is grabbing headlines. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is among 40 BJP leaders who will campaign for the party in the bypoll, which is scheduled to be held on May 31. 

The Champawat seat was vacated for Dhami by Kailash Chandra Gehtori, who defeated Hemesh Kharkwal of the Congress by 5,300 votes.  Notably, the results will be announced on June 2.

Apart from Adityanath, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Anurag Thakur, Rajya Sabha members Anil Baluni and Naresh Bansal, former Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Pradesh BJP president Madan Kaushik, former chief ministers Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh Rawat, Dhami's cabinet colleagues Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat and Rekha Arya are part of the party list.

Though the BJP came to power in Uttarakhand for a second consecutive term in the assembly polls held in February this year, Pushkar Singh Dhami failed to retain his Khatima seat losing it to Congress' Bhuvan Chandra Kapri.

Dhami, who needs to become an MLA within six months of being sworn in as the Chief Minister, is contesting from Champawat to become a member of the state assembly which is a constitutional requirement he needs to fulfil to remain in the saddle.

On Monday, Pushkar Singh Dhami filed his nomination for the Champawat assembly by-elections. BJP MLA Kailash Gehtori had resigned from the Champawat assembly seat to pave the way for Dhami to contest by-polls.

Before filing his nomination, Dhami offered prayers in Banbasa. "Grateful to Champawat for making Kailash Gehtori victorious. He had urged me to contest from here. I`m ready to serve Champawat with the blessings of all deities," ANI quoted him as saying.

(With Agency Inputs)