Pushkar Singh Dhami to be new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand

Pushkar Singh Dhami, the MLA from Khatima constituency, is set to be the 11th CM of the hill state.
Newly elected Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami (C) with former CM TS Rawat (L) and BJP state President Madan Kaushik, in Dehradun. (Photo | PTI)
Newly elected Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami (C) with former CM TS Rawat (L) and BJP state President Madan Kaushik, in Dehradun. (Photo | PTI)

DEHRADUN: Putting a stop to the high voltage political drama in Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami was selected as the new Chief Minister at the BJP's legislature group meeting on Saturday.

The two-time MLA from the Khatima Assembly constituency will take oath at the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun on Sunday at around 5 pm.

After the party's announcement on his selection as the next CM, Dhami said, "I am grateful that the party has chosen a common worker, the son of an ex-serviceman born in Pithoragarh, to serve the state. We are committed to work for the people. We will do our best to serve the people."

"There are many challenges. Mine will be to win people's hearts through good work," he added.

The name of 45-year-old Dhami was proposed by former CM Tirath Singh Rawat following which everyone uninamously chose him the leader of the legislature group.

Celebrations poured in at Dhami's native village in Khatima as local residents came out of their homes with dhol nagadas dancing and celebrating.

Dhami's mother Vishna Devi said, "I am happy beyond words and cannot describe my happy feelings. I just miss his father. He would be happier than me, the happiest person in the world to see his son become the CM."

The CM designate's wife Geeta Dhami thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President JP Nadda and the people who elected him to the assembly.

"I have faith that he will work hard to fulfill people's wishes," added his wife.

Former Uttarakhand BJP president and MP from Nainital Lok Sabha seat Ajay Bhatt said that it feels good to have a young leader (Dhami) to lead the state.

"We are going to win the 2022 state assembly elections with a better margin than 2017," Bhatt said.

Earlier in the day, two central observers -- Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Dushyant Kumar -- reached the BJP office in Dehradun for the legislature group meeting to oversee the selection of the new CM candidate.

The meeting started at around 3 pm and the name was announced within an hour.

On Friday, Tirath Singh Rawat had resigned as CM of Uttarakhand citing a 'Constitutional crisis'.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders lashed out at the BJP for changing the CM again.

Former CM of Uttarakhand and Congress general secretary Harish Rawat said, "The drama (CM change) staged by the BJP is an insult to the people of the state. The Prime Minister promised that the 'double engine' govts, one in Delhi and another in Dehradun, will work towards development of Uttarakhand but all they (BJP) gave was two ex-CMs."

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com