The BJP named Pushkar Singh Dhami as the chief minister of Uttarakhand on Monday, after the party retained power for the second consecutive term in the hill state. Even though Dhami, 46, lost the February election from Khatima, which he had won in previous assembly elections, the party seems to have given him a second chance banking on the length and breadth of his work as the CM, after he took the baton from Trivendra Singh Rawat last year. LIVE UPDATES HERE.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the oath-taking ceremony on March 23 in Dehradun. CMs of BJP-ruled states and senior party leaders will also be in attendance, sources said.
Dhami, a Thakur leader, was sworn in as the chief minister last July. As a former president of the BJP youth wing, Dhami enjoys cordial relations with the young cadres. The party believes Dhami helped in checking anti-incumbency to a certain extent.
Dhami was born in September, 1975 in Pithoragarh district and belongs to the Thakur community. He has worked for the RSS and its affiliates for nearly 33 years. His political journey started from Uttar Pradesh where he worked as an ABVP member in the Awadh Prant region for around a decade.
He has also worked for BJP’s Uttarakhand Yuva Morcha from 2002 to 2008 and served as Officer on Special Duty to Bhagat Singh Koshyari when he was the CM in 2001-02.
In 2012, he was elected as an MLA for the first time from Khatima and won again from the constituency in 2017.
In an interview with News18 last year, Dhami had said, “Wait and watch, we will break this myth. Uttarakhand will create history by giving the BJP one more chance” when asked whether his government will win the second straight term in Uttarakhand.
Ahead of the 2022 Uttarakhand polls, Dhami had said his government would implement the Uniform Civil Code if voted to power. “It will be a significant step towards fulfilling the dreams of India’s Constitution makers and will realise the spirit of the Constitution. It will also be an effective step towards Article 44 of the Indian Constitution which presents the concept of equitable law for all citizens of society regardless of their religion,” Dhami said in Hindi.
The BJP had won 47 seats in the February assembly election, and it is quite historic that the party has come to power for the second consecutive time in a state where the anti-incumbency factor has not let any party retain power since its formation in 2000.
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