In the first piece of good news after its rout in the Lok Sabha elections in May, the Congress won the by-elections in three Assembly seats in Uttarakhand, two of which were vacated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chief Minister Harish Rawat is among the winners.
Congress spokesperson P.C. Chacko said in New Delhi that the results had “exposed the Modi myth” as they have come within 60 days of the BJP government coming to power at the Centre.
By-elections were held in Dharchula, Someshwar, and Doiwala on July 21.
Mr. Rawat won the Dharchula seat, defeating the BJP’s Vishnudutt Joshi by a margin of over 20,000 votes.
Hira Singh Bisht of the Congress defeated the BJP’s Trivendra Singh Rawat by over 6,000 votes from Doiwala.
In Someshwar, Rekha Arya of the Congress defeated the BJP’s Mohan Ram Arya by over 9,000 votes.
The Congress now has 35 MLAs and the BJP 28 in the 70-member House.
