Battlelines for Dhumakot assembly bye-election, which would decide the fate of Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri, have been drawn.

In what is seen as a clash between a soldier and a general, the Congress on Sunday announced that it would field former rural development minister Surendra Singh Negi, an ex-serviceman, against Khanduri, who is a retired army major general, from Dhumakot where bye-elections are being held on August 29.

“Our candidate from Dhumakot is going to be Surendra Singh Negi,” declared PCC chief Harish Rawat.

Negi, who lost to a lesser known BJP leader from Kotdwar in the February assembly election, is being seen as a weak candidate against Khanduri as the deeply divided Congress failed to put up a formidable candidate. But Rawat remained optimistic.

“In the battlefield, only soldiers win wars,” said Rawat.

The bye-election was necessitated after Congress leader T P S Rawat quit the seat for Khanduri which could pave the way to the CM to become an MLA.