Dehradun: As a young man born to a modest family, Sunil Uniyal Gama dabbled in various odd jobs - from running a chowmein stall near the Natraj cinema to selling paan. But in 1991, he would become part of the state BJP’s youth wing, setting him on the path to political success. Decades later, the BJP candidate is set to become the mayor of the state capital.At the time of filing this report on Tuesday, Gama, 56, maintained a comfortable lead of several thousand votes over Congress’ Dinesh Agarwal.Gama, who works as a building contractor now, said, “It is only the BJP that could give a ticket to somebody with a humble background like mine. I have done many odd jobs like running a pan shop, photography and selling chowmein. After I lost my stall during an anti-encroachment drive I took up construction work.”His wife Shobha is a government employee and the couple has a daughter, who is preparing for CA, and a son who is an engineer. The family lives in the Neshvilla Road colony where old-timers remember Gama as a soft-spoken BJP youth leader who participated in many statehood protests. Interestingly, Gama earned the moniker ‘Gama’ since his physique matched that of a local wrestler who went by the same name.Gama’s big political break came when he was chosen as election coordinator for the Rajpur assembly seat in 2007 assembly elections. Gama also has trust of chief minister Rawat, who had appointed Gama the coordinator of his Doiwala assembly seat during 2017 assembly elections. Rawat also threw his weight behind Gama’s candidature for mayor and campaigned widely for him in the city.

Stay updated with all the Dehradun Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.