New Delhi: Sitting MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand after being elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in Uttarakhand on Saturday. Let us tell you that the assembly elections are to be held in the state next year. 45-year-old Dhami will be the youngest chief minister of the state and replace Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned on Friday night within four months of taking over from Trivendra Singh Rawat. Pushkar Singh Dhami will be the 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
After being elected the legislature party leader, he said, “My party has appointed a common worker, son of an ex-serviceman, born in the border district of Pithoragarh, to serve the people. We will work on the issues of the people with the cooperation of all. I will carry forward the work done by my ancestors.” Pushkar Singh Dhami has been a two-time MLA from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district. As Dhami takes charge less than a year before the next assembly elections, his biggest challenge is to give the BJP another victory and retain power in Uttarakhand, where the party is plagued by factionalism.
However, changing Chief Ministers twice in such a short span of time has tarnished the image of the party. The opposition Congress has accused him of creating “political instability” and deceiving the people. Asked whether taking over the chief minister’s post a few months before the assembly polls would be a challenge, Dhami said, “We accept the challenge and we will take the party forward and serve the people.” He thanked the party leadership for trusting him and assured that he would work with everyone’s cooperation.
Dhami’s name was proposed by outgoing Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat and state BJP president Madan Kaushik and was supported by several MLAs including former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar present in the meeting as central observer. Tomar said no other name was proposed for the leader of the BJP Legislature Party. Soon after being unanimously elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party, Dhami accompanied several legislators and central observers to the Raj Bhavan to stake his claim to form the government.
Significantly, in the hope of going to the assembly elections with a new face, the BJP had on March 10 elected Tirath Singh Rawat as the chief minister in place of Trivendra Singh Rawat. But he was also asked to step down as the constitution required him to be elected as a member of the state assembly. Within six months of his appointment as CM and the election commission holding a by-election at this stage, there was growing uncertainty. The opposition Congress, however, took a jibe at the BJP leadership, saying instead of initiating development, it has thrown Uttarakhand into the quagmire of political instability and betrayed its people by repeatedly changing the chief minister.
Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat said that starting with Nityanand Swami, the BJP will have eight chief ministers in the state and added that Uttarakhand will have three chief ministers in the BJP’s latest four-and-a-half-year rule. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said, “BJP’s high drama in Dehradun is an insult to the people of Uttarakhand. The prime minister had promised to give a double engine government, but the state only got different chief ministers and no development.” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the BJP has betrayed the people and for this the prime minister. Modi and (BJP President) JP Nadda are responsible.
“This is an example of BJP’s lust for power, political instability, sharing the fruits of power and failure of leadership. Instead of serving the people of Uttarakhand, they tried to distribute power, and PM Modi and JP Nadda are responsible for this. The BJP brought Uttarakhand to a point where power only meant sharing its fruits and nothing else.”
(with agency input)
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