DEHRADUN: The BJP on Saturday retained the Kedarnath assembly seat in Uttarakhand, with its candidate and state Mahila Morcha president Asha Nautiyal defeating Congress' Manoj Rawat by 5,622 votes.

Nautiyal took an early lead and maintained it till the end. This is her third victory from the seat. She was elected to the state assembly from Kedarnath in 2002 and 2007 also.

Nautiyal polled 23,814 votes, Manoj Rawat got 18,192 and Independent candidate Tribhuvan Singh was in the third position with 9,311 votes, the Election Commission website showed.

This is the second time in a row that the Congress has lost the seat. In the 2022 assembly polls, Manoj Rawat finished third after BJP's Shaila Rani Rawat and Independent candidate Kuldeep Singh Rawat.

The bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Shaila Rani Rawat in July. Polling was held on November 20 and a voter turnout of 57.64 per cent was recorded.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said this is a "huge victory" for the BJP and the triumph of the development work carried out in Kedarnath under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It is a victory of development, our policies and Sanatan. It is also a slap on the faces of those who spread all sorts of lies against the state government in the run-up to the bypoll," he said without naming anyone.

Dhami said his government is committed to taking development to the last person in Kedarnath.

Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt said, "The voters of Kedarnath have once again rejected the negative politics of the Congress. I thank them for once again placing their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the BJP."