Vivek Sharma bags Kutlehar for Congress
Rajesh Sharma
Una, June 4
Though a tight contest was expected in the Kutlehar Assembly bypoll, in the end it turned out to be a comfortable win for the Congress as Vivek Sharma won the seat by a margin of 5,356 votes by defeating Davinder Kumar Bhutto of the BJP.
Kutlehar is the largest Assembly segment in the district. Being a resident of the higher areas of the segment, Davinder gained a lead in first four rounds of the counting. As EVMs from the lower areas began to open, Vivek surged ahead as he hails from lower belt.
Vivek Sharma polled 36,853 votes, while Davinder Kumar got 31,497 votes. Independent candidates Chanchal Singh and Rajeev Sharma got 300 and 234 votes, respectively. As many as 341 voters pressed the NOTA button.
After his victory, Vivek said people of Kutlehar were facing issues of shortage of drinking water, lack of education and health infrastructure and unemployment, besides poor road connectivity. He said he would sit with the people and take up these issues on priority with the state government.
Asked to respond to the allegations of corruption against Davinder Bhutto and a recent FIR against him at the Dehra police station regarding anomalies in implementing a government contract work order, Vivek said it was for the investigating agencies and the government to pursue legal issues. “The people of the state have given their verdict and the BJP candidate has been found guilty in ‘Janta ki Adalat’,” Vivek added.
Vivek Sharma’s father Ram Nath Sharma remained Congress MLA from Kutlehar from 1985 to 1990. Vivek had contested the seat on Congress ticket in 2017, but lost to Virender Kanwar by 5,606 votes.
Thanking the Congress leadership and the people of Kutlehar for reposing faith in him, Vivek said the people have proved that they supported politics based on ‘Jan bal’ and not ‘Dhan bal’.
On his loss, Davinder Bhutto said he respected the verdict with humility and would keep working for the people of the constituency. He said he was ready to face any investigation against him and that he would come out clean.
