BJP's Asha Nautiyal Secures Third Victory in Kedarnath

The BJP retained the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand with candidate Asha Nautiyal defeating Congress' Manoj Rawat by 5,622 votes. This marks Nautiyal's third win from the seat. The bypoll came after the death of MLA Shaila Rani Rawat. CM Dhami hailed it as a victory for development.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has successfully retained the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand, with Asha Nautiyal defeating Congress challenger Manoj Rawat by a margin of 5,622 votes.

Asha Nautiyal, who serves as the state Mahila Morcha president, has now claimed victory in this constituency for the third time, having previously won in 2002 and 2007. She secured 23,814 votes, while Rawat gathered 18,192 votes, according to the Election Commission's data.

The by-election followed the passing of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami described it as a significant win for the BJP's development agenda under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt credited local voters for rejecting Congress' negative politics.

(With inputs from agencies.)