Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat lost from the Lalkuwa constituency by a staggering 17,527 votes to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mohan Singh Bisht, who had consistently maintained his lead since counting began on Thursday, 10 March.
Rawat was originally supposed to contest from the Ramnagar seat as per the Congress' second list of candidates.
However, his seat was later changed to Lalkuwa.
Speaking to The Quint about the change in his seat, he had said, "It's the party's decision. In fact, the Lalkuan seat and those like Haldwani are at the heart of Uttarakhand's Kumaon region. The party has strategically decided that I contest from the foothills. So, instead of the foothills of Ramnagar, they have decided that I contest from the foothills of Lalkuan."
He had denied that the seat shuffle happened because some other leader wanted it, saying that the Congress evaluated the situation after voices were raised, which is normal following ticket distribution.