Pushkar Singh Dhami to continue as Uttarakhand chief minister

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislative party meeting held at the party office in Dehradun on Monday formally chose Pushkar Singh Dhami as the leader of the legislative party, paving way for him to continue as the chief minister of Uttarakhand.

The party chose 46-year-old Dhami, who took over as Uttarakhand’s youngest chief minister on July 4 last year, to take oath as the 12th CM of the state despite his failure in the recently concluded assembly elections from Khatima constituency. The decision has been seen as a recognition of his ability to provide a stable and controversy-free government in the hill state.

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, who was the BJP’s central observer in the Uttarakhand legislative party meeting on Monday said, “I want to congratulate Dhami. In his short tenure, he has left a mark and BJP secured a historic victory in the elections. I am hopeful that under his leadership the state will witness holistic development in all spheres.”

Dhami thanked all MLAs, his supporters, party workers and people of the state and said he will work to take ahead the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for developing Uttarakhand as an ideal state by 2025.

Later, Dhami left for Raj Bhawan and met governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh to stake claim for forming government in the state.

Prof MM Semwal, an analyst who teaches political science at Garhwal university said the key things factored in for the selection of Dhami as the chief minister included his potential to provide a stable government for the next five years, besides being non-controversial and dynamic, who can take everyone along.

Prof Semwal said there were other factors that were in favour of Dhami. “He is a young leader, he has succeeded in clearing the mess after the removal of two chief ministers and provided a stable government, his body language is humble, he speaks in a very measured way and he made a mark despite having very less time (in office)”.

With the Congress lashing out at the BJP for failing to provide a stable government and changing two chief ministers, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Tirath Singh, in March-July period last year, Dhami’s 7-month tenure brought much relief to the party high command as it was free from controversies. Dhami, unlike his predecessors, also succeeded in checking resentment among the MLAs. Nearly half a dozen MLAs openly said that they are ready to vacate their seats so that Dhami can contest from one of them to continue as the chief minister.

Party insiders said that Dhami showed dynamism, avoided confrontations and worked very hard in the last seven months. During the election campaign, he reached out to people in both Kumaon and Garhwal, telling them how PM Modi wants to make Uttarakhand an ideal state by 2025 for which his government has come up with a special blueprint.

BJP stalwarts, from PM Modi to union home minister Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh during their election rallies in the state showered praises on Dhami and said he will lead the BJP government in the state when it comes to power.

On February 8, Rajnath Singh during a rally in Pithoragarh said, “The chief minister of Uttarakhand is simple, gentle and also the name is Pushkar. There is a lot of discussion about a film these days. The name of the movie is Pushpa. Hearing Pushkar, Congress is considering him only as a flower. Our Pushkar is both flower and fire. This Pushkar Dhami will not stop or bow down.”

Hailing from Thakur caste, he was pitted against the veteran Thakur leader from the Congress, Harish Rawat. Dhami, a two-time MLA who never held any administrative position before becoming the chief minister, succeeded in ensuring a historic victory for the party.

Earlier in the day, governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh administered oath to Bansidhar Bhagat, MLA from Kaladungi in Nainital district, as protem speaker of Uttarakhand legislative assembly. Following this, Bhagat administered oath to the newly elected members of the legislative assembly. Many MLAs, especially those who were elected for the first time, bowed before the assembly in reverence while entering the complex.

In the afternoon, Rajnath Singh, BJP central co-observer and union minister Meenakshi Lekhi and other senior leaders including Prahlad Joshi, Dushyant Gautam, former union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ arrived in Dehradun. The observers met Dhami, state BJP president Madan Kaushik and other senior BJP leaders at a hotel before the legislative party meeting started at the party office.

The last 10 days witnessed speculations that either Dhami will continue as the chief minister or someone will be chosen from among the MLAs or the MPs or a woman MLA, Ritu Khanduri, could be chosen for the top post.

The main aspirants for the CM’s post included Anil Baluni, Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, Madan Kaushik, Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”, Ajay Bhatt, Ritu Khanduri and Bhansidhar Bhagat.

The BJP won 47 seats and the Congress 19 in the 70 seat Uttarakhand assembly in the recently concluded elections.

The party is now looking forward to the swearing-in ceremony to be held on Wednesday. Manveer Singh Chauhan, state BJP media in-charge, said the party has prepared a blueprint to make the swearing-in ceremony a grand and memorable event. He said that the state office bearers, district presidents, district general secretaries, front office-bearers and all the party workers have been told to make the swearing-in ceremony a mega event.