By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 20 Apr: BJP MLA from Champawat, Kailash Gehtodi, who had announced that he would give up his seat to enable Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami contest the subsequent bypoll is learnt to have submitted his resignation letter to the state BJP unit. Strangely, the resignation has not been submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly as, only then, would he be considered to have resigned and the seat declared vacant. According to party sources, a proposal will be sent to the Central leadership, although unofficially, the Party High Command is also learnt to have given the green signal to the CM to contest from Champawat.
While, though it appears almost certain that Chief Minister Dhami will contest the by-election from Champawat, the party has refrained so far from confirming this officiallyr. Even CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, when asked by media persons yesterday, had avoided confirming from where he would contest the poll.
It may be recalled that while BJP managed to secure a two-thirds majority in the assembly elections, Dhami had lost the election from Khatima.
In order to continue as CM, Dhami has to become a member of the Legislative Assembly within six months of assuming charge.
Kailash Gehtodi was the first MLA to offer his resignation to enable Dhami contest the bypoll. However, soon after, some more MLAs including an independent and a Congress MLA also made similar offers. Sources claim that, during his recent trip to Delhi, the Chief Minister had spoken to the Central leadership regarding the seat for his by-election.
According to sources, the central leadership has given the green signal to Dhami to contest the by-election from Champawat. Sources added that the BJP’s district unit in Champawat has also sent a proposal on Dhami contesting from Champawat to the state leadership. However, the seat will only become vacant when Gehtodi submits his resignation letter to the Speaker.
