Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker congratulates CM Dhami for Champawat bypolls victory

Dehradun: Uttrakhand Legislative Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan on Sunday congratulated Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for winning the Champawat by-election with a record number of votes.

Khanduri reached the Chief Minister's residence on Sunday and presented a sapling to the Dhami on the occasion of World Environment Day.

Chief Minister Dhami and Khanduri discussed several issues related to the development of the state during their meeting.

During the meeting, discussions were held between CM and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on various topics related to the development of the state. The two leaders also discussed the preparations for the upcoming budget session of the Assembly to be held from June 14.

Khanduri also put forward the issues related to her Assembly constituency Kotdwar before the Chief Minister.

Dhami won the Champawat bypolls with a margin of over 55,000 votes.

This was a much-needed victory for Dhami to continue as the Chief Minister as he had lost the state Assembly polls held earlier this year despite the BJP's landslide victory in the state.

He secured 58,258 votes against the Congress candidate Nirmala Gahatodi who grabbed only 3,233 votes.

Apart from Dhami and Gahatodi, Manoj Kumar Bhatt from Samajwadi Party and Independent candidate Himanshu Gadkoti were also in the fray. The polling took place on May 31 and votes were counted on Friday.

Dhami had lost the Khatima seat in the 2022 State Assembly by-polls and hence contested from Champawat to become an MLA. According to the Constitution, he needed to fulfil this requirement within six months of being sworn in to continue being the state Chief Minister.

Dhami lost the Khatima constituency to candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes in assembly elections. Later, BJP MLA Kailash Gehtori resigned from the Champawat assembly seat to pave the way for Dhami to contest the said by-polls.

After the massive victory, congratulations poured in for Dhami from his party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (ANI)