What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
DEHRADUN: Nirmala Gahtori, the losing Congress candidate from Champawat, now holds an electoral record that no politician wants to hold – losing deposits and losing by a record margin.
Gahtori lost her deposits getting only 0.51% of the total votes cast in the by-elections in Champawat. She was pitted against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who scored around 93% votes.
With an uninspiring election campaign, Congress has only itself to be blamed for the debacle. However, the Congress candidate says that the campaigning of the CM involved misuse of power in every way possible.
“There has been a blatant abuse of power in the by-elections. The people from the Bhartiya Janta Party and the government were involved in malpractices like influencing voters and not letting Indian National Congress workers campaign. I also sat in protest on the election day itself. These elections will be remembered for abuse of power,” said Gahtori.
Meanwhile, the senior leaders termed the defeat “a murder of democracy”.
Harish Rawat, former chief minister of Uttarakhand, said, “The result is a murder of democracy. In a democratic setup, it is a norm that one candidate will win and the rest will lose but the by-polls in Champawat witnessed the shattering of all democratic values.”
The State Congress president alleged irregularities in voting and demanded an inquiry.
“I demand an inquiry into the sudden increase in the voting percentage. The inquiry should be conducted by a retired judge. There have been many violations in these by-elections which should be investigated,” said Karan Mahra, state Congress president, said.
Political commentators, however, blamed the Congress party for giving the CM walkover in the by-elections.
“Look at the campaigning style of the two parties. The BJP was disciplined and ruthless whereas Congress was a laggard. The BJP issued a list of 40 ‘Star Campaigners’ the majority of which came to the constituency to campaign for the incumbent CM. Congress failed miserably and left their candidate high and dry,” said Pawan Lalchand, a political analyst based in Dehradun.
Interestingly, the Champawat by-poll was considered the testing ground for the new Congress state leadership that took over following the party’s poor performance in the assembly elections in March this year.
Mahra, Rawat and leader of opposition in the Uttarakhand State Legislative Assembly Yashpal Arya failed to put up a fight against CM Dhami, added the analysts.
CM Dhami defeated his opponent Nirmala Gahtori by 55,025 votes which is the highest winning margin by any Uttarakhand CM since the formation of the hill state in the year 2000.
Total of 62,684 people cast their vote of which CM Dhami got 58,258 while his opponent from the Indian National Congress Nirmala Gahtori got only 3,233 votes.
