Forty-five-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami, long associated with the BJP and the RSS, on Sunday became the 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath to him.
Along with Dhami, Satpal Maharaj, Harkasih Rawat, Dr Dhan Singh Rawat, Banshidhar Bhagat, Yashpal Arya, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Bishan Singh, Ganesh Joshi, Rekha Arya and Yatishwaranand were also administered the oath of office. All these MLAs were earlier also included in the cabinet.
It is noteworthy that Tirath Singh Rawat had resigned from the post of Chief Minister two days ago citing constitutional crisis. Dhami was unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party at the meeting in Dehradun, party sources say.
Born in Pithoragarh, Dhami is the youngest Chief Minister of the state. Dhami, a two-time MLA, was never a minister in the Uttarakhand government.
Talking to the media on Saturday, he said that he is thankful to the party high command for giving a common worker a chance to serve the state.
After the resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat on Friday, a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party was held on Saturday. In this, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and D. Purandeshwari were present as central observers. In the meeting, Tirath Singh Rawat and BJP state president Madan Kaushik proposed the name of Khatima MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami. Even after the consent of the central supervisor on this, no other name was proposed.
Dhami was born on 16 September 1975 in Tundi village of Pithoragarh. His father was a soldier. Being the only son of the house after three sisters, the responsibilities of the family always remained on him.
Dhami has done Masters in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. He has worked in different positions in ABVP from 1990 to 1999. Dhami was also the state president of Yuva Morcha from 2002 to 2008. He was vice-chairman of the Urban Development Council from 2010 to 2012. He was elected MLA for the first time in 2012. Under his leadership, the state government succeeded in providing 70% reservation to the local youth in the industries of the state. Dhami is considered close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He is also close to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Political experts say about Dhami that it is a name that has always been away from controversies. He has also been raising his voice loudly on issues like corruption. He is considered to have a good hold among the youth.
Coming from the Rajput community, Dhami is one of the flamboyant leaders of the state. According to political experts, in view of the upcoming Assembly elections, efforts have been made to correct caste equation in the state by making Dhami the CM. His name was in air even when Tirath Singh Rawat became the Chief Minister. His youthfulness has also gone in his favour.
