Rare act of Integrity: Uttarakhand panchayat candidate admits defeat, backs real victor

Champawat: A panchayat poll candidate who was given the certificate of victory by the election officer here has informed the authorities that she polled fewer votes than her rival and that he should be declared the winner.

This played out after the result for the election to the post of Tarkuli gram panchayat head were declared. The gram panchayat is part of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's assembly constituency, Champawat.

While Kajal Bisht, who was declared the winner, secured 103 votes, her rival candidate Sumit Kumar got 106.

"I told the election officer that I did not win the election, I lost. My opponent got three more votes than me, so the certificate should be given to the rightful winner," Bisht said.

When the matter was not resolved at the level of the election officer, Bisht filed a case in the court of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Anurag Arya.

The SDM accepted Bisht's objection and ordered the election officer to get the votes recounted within 30 days. Officials said the date for recounting is likely to be announced soon.