Watch | Indo-Nepal border sealed in view of Champawat by-election

The India-Nepal border in Uttarkhand’s Champawat district has been sealed in the wake of the Champawat by-election which is scheduled to be held on May 31. The border will be opened on June 1.

“The indo-Nepal border has been sealed in view of the Champawat by-election. Voting is to be held on May 31, due to which Tanakpur Baramdev Nepal border has been sealed. It will be opened on June 1”, the Champawat district administration was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is contesting the by-poll from the constituency to remain in office. The by-poll is critical for the chief minister and the ruling BJP as Dhami may have been sworn in as CM in March, on the back of an emphatic election victory, but he failed to win an assembly seat. This means he has less than six months to win a by-poll or, in what will be an embarrassment for the BJP, must resign.

In the assembly polls in February, the BJP won 47 out of a total of 70 assembly seats, but Dhami lost from Khatima. The seat was won by the BJP's Kailash Chandra Gehtori in this election (and 2017 too). Gehtori quit allowing Dhami a second shot at an assembly seat.

Earlier in the day, Dhami also held a roadshow with Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath in Tanakpur to seek people's support.

"For the first time since it became a district in 1997, Champawat has got an opportunity to elect a chief minister and not just an MLA. You should not waste this opportunity. I appeal to you to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the youthful leadership of Pushkar Singh Dhami for the rapid development of the area," Adityanath said