Champawat is considered a safe seat for the CM; MLA Gehtodi was the first to offer his seat to Dhami
Sunday, 03 April | PNS | Dehradun
The two-day extensive visit of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to Champawat has given credence to speculations that he is preparing to contest from the constituency to make an entry in the fifth elected assembly of the state. CM Dhami is himself giving broad hints that he has made up his mind to contest from Champawat.
On Saturday he offered prayers at the famous Poornagiri temple on the occasion of the Chaitra Navratri. He also visited the Sharda Ghat which is facing threat from erosion. Dhami held a telephonic interaction with the chief secretary in which he directed him to solve the issue.
In a clear attempt to strike a rapport with the locals, the CM also visited a tea stall owned by Mahadev Singh and sipped tea with the locals.
It is worth mentioning here that the BJP MLA from Champawat Kailash Gehtodi was the first MLA who had offered to vacate his seat for Dhami. Apart from Gehtodi many other MLAs have also offered their seat to Dhami but the team of the CM is said to be zeroing on Champawat. It was expected earlier that Dhami would contest from Didihat in Pithoragarh district because he is the native of the area but the rebellious overtones of sitting MLA and former cabinet minister Bishen Singh Chufal forced him to scout for another safe constituency in Kumaon. After being dropped from the cabinet, Chufal had stated that he will not leave his seat for anyone and that he is not interested in going to Rajya Sabha. In such a situation the CM’s camp is preferring Champawat which is located in the vicinity of Khatima, the constituency of Dhami. The local factors, demography and caste factors of Champawat too are said to be favourable for Dhami. This constituency is very big and more than half of the electors are concentrated in Tanakpur- Banbasa area which makes Dhami to cover it extensively in a short time. Champawat has a good population of people belonging to Pithoragarh district which is the native place of Dhami. Apart from these factors the area has a considerable population of ex servicemen who are considered as a vote bank of BJP.
In the recently held assembly elections, Dhami contested from his traditional Khatima assembly constituency of Udham Singh Nagar district. However he was defeated by the officiating president of Uttarakhand Congress Bhuwan Kapdi by a margin of 6,759 votes. In the assembly elections the ruling BJP came back to power by winning 47 out of 70 seats in the state assembly. The central leadership of BJP reposed faith in Dhami after which he became CM of the state for the second consecutive time. In order to fulfil the constitutional obligation of getting elected to the assembly within six months Dhami is looking for a safe seat and it appears that his search has ended in Champawat. After the consent of party high command the BJP MLA Kailash Gehtodi would resign paving the way for the all important by-election for entry of CM Dhami in the state assembly.
