Champawat bypoll today, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami's fate at stake

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New Delhi, May 30

All eyes are set on the Champawat Assembly constituency of Uttarakhand, where a bypoll, to be held tomorrow, will determine whether or not Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue in the state’s top office.

In the Assembly elections held in February, Dhami, who had won from Khatima twice, lost the seat to Congress’ Bhuwan Chandra Kapri. Tomorrow’s election, thus, is a must-win for the 46-year-old BJP leader.

“Congress candidate Nirmala Gahtori has remained president of the party’s district unit on two occasions but has never contested an election before. She has been made the ‘bali ka bakra’ (sacrificial goat),” Mohan Singh, a Rudrapur-based political analyst said.

Manoj Kumar Bhatt of the Samajwadi Party and Himanshu Garkoti, an Independent, are also in the fray from Champawat.