Pushkar Singh Dhami will take the oath of office as Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister today

GG News Bureau

Dehradun, 23rd  March: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami will take the oath of office today.

In addition, his Cabinet will take the oath of office during the ceremony, which begins at 2.30 p.m. at Parade Ground here.

Along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his counterparts from Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP president JP Nadda are scheduled to attend.

Dhami was named the next Chief Minister on Monday, after newly elected BJP MLAs convened at the party’s office in Dehradun to select their leader.

Dhami, who lost his seat in Uttarakhand’s Khatima constituency, led the party’s poll effort as Chief Minister during the assembly elections last month. The results were announced on March 10, and speculation arose as to whether he would be reelected as chief minister for a second time.

Along with him, cabinet ministers will take the oath of office. On Monday, Dhami was elected leader of the BJP legislature party in Uttarakhand, paving the way for him to take over the state for the second time.

The legislative party meeting was attended by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi. They are also expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Several names were floated as possible candidates for chief minister, including former union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Minister of State for Defense Ajay Bhatt, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, MLA Dhan Singh Rawat, and Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj.

Dhami was defeated in the state election by Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri of Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes. He received 41,598 votes with a 44.8 percent vote share, while Kapri received 48,177 votes with a 51.89 percent vote share. Dhami had won the seat twice before.

Dhami, the son of an ex-serviceman, was born in Kanalichhina village in Pithoragarh district in 1975. He has a law degree and has volunteered for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He had also served on the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Between 2002 and 2008, Dhami was the president of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Uttarakhand twice. He is thought to be a protégé of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

Dhami will be the hill state’s 13th Chief Minister. He is from the Kumaun region. The previous two chief ministers were both from the Garhwal region.

The BJP won the popular mandate in Uttarakhand for the second time in a row, taking 47 seats in the 70-member assembly.