Uttarakhand CM Dhami leads in Champawat bypoll counting, Congress ahead in Kerala

|HT|

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has surged into a commanding lead as counting for the Champawat bypoll began Friday morning. At 9.20 am Dhami had over 13,000 votes with none of his rivals - the Congress' Nirmala Gahtori, the Samajwadi Party's Manoj Kumar Bhatt or Himanshu Garkoti, an independent candidate, having crossed the 1,000-mark. Dhami must win this seat to remain as chief minister. He was sworn in to the state's top post in March after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party retained power in February-March assembly election but he lost his individual race from Khatima to the Congress.

Meanwhile, in bypolls in other parts of the country, the Congress' Uma Thomas is leading in Kerala's Thrikkakara with nearly 6,000 votes. In second is Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Dr JO Joseph. The BJP - which failed to win any seats in the 2021 election - is third.

A bypoll is also on in Odisha's Brajrajnagar, there a tri-corner contest is expected between Alka Mohanty of the ruling Biju Janata Dal, Radharani Panda of the BJP, and the Congress' Kishore Patel.

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