Pushkar Singh Dhami: From student politics to the top post in Uttarakhand

Pushkar Singh Dhami has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate bodies for more than 30 years.

Pushkar Singh Dhami has been chosen for the top job in Uttarakhand after two chief ministers were replaced less than a year ahead of the assembly elections in the state. The 45-year-old Dhami, a two-time legislator representing the Khatima constituency in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar, faces a crucial challenge as the state.

Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the Uttarakhand chief minister later in the day. (ANI Photo)

"My party has appointed a common worker, son of an ex-serviceman, who was born in the border district of Pithoragarh to serve the people. We will work on people’s issues with the cooperation of all. I will carry forward the work done by my predecessors," Pushkar Singh Dhami said after being named Uttarakhand chief minister.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who was one of the central observers at the BJP’s Legislature Party meeting on Saturday, Tirath Singh Rawat and party state president Madan Kaushik proposed Dhami’s name. “Other senior leaders Trivendra Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Yashpal Arya, Harak Singh Rawat, Bansidhar Bhagat, Ritu Khanduri, Dhan Singh Rawat and others agreed. As per the party's democratic process, we as observers asked the members of the legislative assembly on any other proposal, but none came. After that, Dhami was elected as the new leader of legislature party unanimously,” said Tomar.  

Dhami will take oath as the Uttarakhand chief minister later in the day.

Here are 10 things to know about Uttarakhand’s eleventh chief minister:

1. Dhami, who was born in the Kanalichhina area of Pithoragarh in 1975, will be the third chief minister in a short span of just 116 days in the hill state.
2. At 45, Dhami will also be the youngest chief minister of the state.
3. Dhami has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate bodies for more than 30 years. He was also a member of the RSS’ student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for 10 years and worked in Uttar Pradesh’s Awadh region during the period.
4. The relatively young politician from the Kumaon of the state, Dhami has been the president of the BJP’s Uttarakhand Yuva Morcha twice from 2002 to 2008. He also held the post of vice-chairman with state minister rank of the urban monitoring committee in the state.
5. Son of a former Indian Army personnel, Dhami was an officer on special duty (OSD) to now Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari when he became chief minister of Uttarakhand in 2001 after the replacement of the first chief minister Nityanand Swami. 
6. Dhami played an active role in the BJP’s affairs when Koshiyari became the president of the state unit of the party in 2002.
7. Dhami was pushed into the election by his mentor Koshiyari in 2012. He contested the polls successfully from the Khatima assembly seat. Dhami is also reportedly close to defence minister Rajnath Singh.
8. The BJP lost the Uttarakhand assembly election by just one seat under the leadership of BC Khanduri when he first became an MLA for the first time in 2012.
9. Dhami retained his Khatima seat in 2017 when the BJP came to power in the hill state winning 57 seats in the 70-member House.

10. Dhami is a law graduate in human resource management and industrial relations.