Uttarakhand: A BJP MLA resigns from Dhami to run for office in Champawat

*Paromita Das

To clear the way for Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to run for the Chamapawat Assembly seat, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kailash Gehtodi resigned on Wednesday.

Madan Kaushik, State BJP President, informed ANI of his resignation “MLA Kailash Gehtodi’s resignation has also been accepted. The Chief Minister will now run from this seat.”
Dhami lost the Khatima constituency seat to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes in the state elections held in February. He was, however, reelected as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for a second term.
On February 14, assembly elections were held in Uttarakhand to elect 70 members to the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. On March 10, the results were announced.
The BJP returned to power in Uttarakhand with a two-thirds majority in the 70-member Assembly for the second consecutive term.
The party won 47 seats and received 44.33 percent of the vote, a drop of nearly 2% from the previous Assembly elections in 2017.