Uttarakhand CM in attendance, Congress MLA throws microphone, challenges him to contest

A political confrontation erupted at the Jauljibi fair in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Saturday after Congress MLA Harish Singh Dhami from Dharchula threw a microphone and confronted sound staff on stage, alleging that he had been prevented from addressing the gathering in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Videos of the incident, which have circulated widely on social media, show the MLA angrily confronting people on the stage, throwing a microphone and engaging in a heated exchange with the sound staff. Other visuals show chairs and stage equipment being thrown amid the commotion.

The incident occurred after the Chief Minister inaugurated the fair at the confluence of the Kali and Gori rivers, on the India-Nepal border, and left the venue. In a video statement issued after the incident, Harish Dhami alleged that his microphone was switched off when he attempted to speak after the Chief Minister's departure.

“When the Chief Minister spoke and left, I picked up the microphone and started speaking. The sound system was switched off under pressure from the government and the chief minister. Is this fair? As an MLA representing Dharchula, didn't I have the right to speak?" he said.

The MLA said he had wanted to raise issues concerning his constituency, including unfulfilled development promises and the condition of roads. He questioned the government's failure to deliver on announcements made during previous visits to the region.

Referring to announcements made in 2022 regarding the beautification and development of the Jauljibi fairground, he asked where the promised work had gone. He also raised questions about the proposed civil lines in Dharchula and road projects in the region.

The MLA also referred to an eight-year-old child who, he said, had died in a road accident two days earlier, and questioned the state of road infrastructure in the area. "I have not learnt to fear or bow down. If I make a mistake, I will accept it and apologise.

That is why I openly challenged the Chief Minister. If he has the courage, let him contest the 2027 Assembly elections from Dharchula," he said. Dhami further said that if his party permitted him, he was ready to contest against Pushkar Singh Dhami from whichever constituency the Chief Minister chose.

He also called the Chief Minister "Darpok Dhami" (coward Dhami), playing on the latter's popular political epithet, "Dhakad Dhami". The MLA acknowledged that he might have made mistakes during the incident and apologised to the people of his constituency.

However, he maintained that the episode was not merely an insult to him but to the people of Dharchula and Munsiyari. The Congress also backed Dhami, with party spokesperson Garima Dasauni accusing the Chief Minister and the organisers of violating established protocol by not allowing the local MLA, who was presiding over the programme, to address the gathering.

"According to protocol, when the Chief Minister visits a programme in an Assembly constituency, the elected representative from that constituency is invited onto the stage, given a seat and an opportunity to speak. But today, Pushkar Singh Dhami left even before Harish Dhami could address the gathering.

And when Harish Dhami picked up the microphone to raise issues concerning his constituency, the sound system was switched off," Dasauni said on Saturday.