Dhami to take oath as new Uttarakhand CM today

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday chose the next chief minister of Uttarakhand, two-time legislator Pushkar Singh Dhami, for the state’s top post, after days of frenetic meetings and discussions that culminated in the resignation of CM Tirath Singh Rawat late on Friday night

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday chose the next chief minister of Uttarakhand, two-time legislator Pushkar Singh Dhami, for the state’s top post, after days of frenetic meetings and discussions that culminated in the resignation of CM Tirath Singh Rawat late on Friday night.

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Dhami, the legislator from Khatima constituency of US Nagar district, will be the third chief minister to lead the state in less than four months, triggering criticism from the Opposition and concerns among BJP leaders about political instability months before Uttarakhand goes to the polls. Assembly elections in the state are to be held in early 2022.

The state unit of the BJP elected Dhami as the legislative party leader, paving the way for his official appointment as chief minister at the swearing-in ceremony in Dehradun on Sunday at 6pm.

“My party has appointed a common worker, the son of an ex-serviceman, who was born in the border district of Pithoragarh to serve the people,” Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who attended the meeting in the town as a central observer, told reporters.

Tomar added that former CM Tirath Singh Rawat and state BJP chief Madan Kaushik proposed the name of Dhami, and other senior leaders — including ex-chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat — backed the move.

“We’ll work on people’s issues with the cooperation of all. I will carry forward the work done by my predecessors,” Dhami told reporters shortly after the meeting at the party headquarters. The CM-designate later visited governor Baby Rani Maurya’s residence to stake claim to the government.

The 45-year-old, set to be the state’s 10th chief minister, is also the youngest leader to be appointed to the position in Uttarakhand. It wasn’t known until now that Dhami — who has never held a ministerial position before this, but has links with the RSS and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad — was being considered for the role.

Outgoing chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat, whose short termwas marred by controversies that included allowing the Mahakumbh to convene with mammoth gatherings despite a raging pandemic, and a Covid-19 testing scam, congratulated Dhami and appeared to present a unified front . “All the 56 members of legislature party elected him unanimously. We are sure that Uttarakhand will attain new heights of development in the coming period under his leadership,” he said.

Tirath Singh Rawat resigned as the CM on Friday night, days after the BJP leadership summoned him to Delhi, where he met Union home minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda.

He suggested he resigned on Friday because the Election Commission (EC) was unlikely to hold by-elections — which were necessary for him to continue in the post — due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Rawat was a member of Parliament when he was named the chief minister. He needed to be elected to the state assembly within six months of assuming the post to continue as the CM.

Although it is atypical for EC to hold bypolls to an assembly whose remaining tenure is less year, an official of the body indicated to HT on Friday that no request was made by the party.

The BJP has 56 lawmakers in the 70-member house.

In March this year, Tirath Singh Rawat was appointed as the ninth chief minister of the state after his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned due to infighting in the state unit.

Political analysts say the change of guard this year and the controversies over the state government’s handling of the pandemic during the second wave of infections is likely to hit the BJP’s chances of returning to power in the state next year.

“By stirring this political episode just a few months before the election, BJP has made the road to victory difficult for itself. The people of Uttarakhand will now think that the BJP is taking them as its laboratory for its political experiments. Secondly, the morale of its workers would also take a dent after this,” said MM Semwal, professor of political science at Garhwal Central University.

On Saturday, the Opposition Congress also hit out at the BJP for what it termed was “political instability” and “lust for power”. “Instead of serving the people of Uttarakhand, they tried to distribute power, and PM (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and JP Nadda are responsible for this,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged.

Dhami, however, adopted a defiant tone on concerns over the BJP’s electoral performance, and said that he was ready to take the “challenge” and turn it into an “opportunity”.

State leaders said on Saturday that several factors worked in favour of Dhami, who was a relatively lesser known figure than some of the other BJP legislators. State tourism minister Satpal Maharaj and education minister Dhan Singh Rawat were tipped to be elevated to the key position.

“Dhami ticked several boxes. He is a member of the Thakur community, which helped as state party president Madan Kaushik is a Brahmin, the BJP couldn’t appoint two members of the same community,” an Uttarakhand minister said on the condition of anonymity.

It also helped that Dhami has his roots in Kumaon, and will be seen as a representative of the people from the region as Kaushik is from Garhwal, the minister added.

Another party MLA said Dhami is believed to be close to Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is currently the Maharashtra governor.

However, state Congress spokesperson Garima Dasauni believes that the BJP has only chosen Dhami instead of a big name to keep a “scapegoat” ready as the ruling party knows it is “going to lose”.

BJP leaders disagree. “Dhami is a young leader with a significant support base among the youth,” said Ajay Bhatt, a BJP MP from Uttarakhand.