Dhami fifth sitting U’khand CM to contest by-elections

Dehradun: Chief minister Pushkar Singh

Dhami

will be contesting a by-election from the Champawat seat to secure entry into the state assembly and continue at the top post. He will be the fifth Uttarakhand chief minister to do so. Before him, former CMs, including ND Tiwari, Major General BC Khanduri (retired), Vijay Bahuguna and Harish Rawat have also contested by-elections. Significantly, a sitting CM has never lost a bypoll contest in Uttarakhand.In 2002, ND Tiwari contested a by-election after being made the CM. Congress legislator Yogember Singh Rawat had then vacated his Ramagar constituency for Tiwari. Later in 2007, when Tiwari didn’t contest the state election, Yogember Singh Rawat was again fielded from Ramagar by Congress. However, he lost to BJP’s Diwan Singh Bisht by a convincing margin of over 10,000 votes. Similarly, Major Gen BC Khanduri (retd), Vijay

Bahuguna

and Harish Rawat also fought by-poll after they were made the state CM by their respective parties.After winning the election in 2007, BJP made Major General BC Khanduri the new CM of the Himalayan state. In 2004, Khanduri won from the Pauri

Lok Sabha

seat and after taking charge as the CM, he resigned as an MP. Subsequently, Congress legislator Lieutenant General Tejpal Singh Rawat (retired) left his Dhumakot seat for Khanduri. This was the first instance when an MLA of the opposition party quit the assembly seat in favour of the ruling party CM. Uttarakhand witnessed another such instance in 2012 when BJP MLA from Sitarganj, Kiran Chand Mandal, vacated his seat for Vijay Bahuguna of the Congress. Bahuguna won the by-poll and since then, the seat has remained with his family. In February 2014, Vijay Bahuguna submitted his resignation as the CM following widespread criticism for handling the Kedarnath tragedy. Congress then gave the charge to Harish Rawat. To ensure that Harish Rawat continues as CM, Harish Dhami vacated his Dharchula seat. Rawat won the by-poll comfortably. Later, in 2017 and again in 2022, Dhami contested from Dharchula (Pithoragarh) and won both times.