U’khand BJP MLAs re-elect Dhami as CM
DEHRADUN: Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue to be chief minister of Uttarakhand. The decision was revealed after a BJP legislative party meeting was held at the party office here on Monday, in which the new MLAs formally chose him as the leader of the legislative party, paving way for him to be the 12th chief minister of the state.
Rajnath Singh, who was the central observer, said, “I want to congratulate Dhami. In his short tenure, he has left a mark and the BJP secured a historic victory in the assembly election. I am hopeful that under his leadership the state will witness holistic development in all spheres,” he said.
Dhami, while thanking all MLAs, his supporters, party workers and people of state, said he will work to take ahead the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and work for developing Uttarakhand as an ideal state by 2025.
It has been decided that swearing in ceremony will be held on March 23 (Wednesday).
The BJP has won 47 seats and Congress 19 in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly. After the meeting, Dhami met Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd) at Raj Bhawan to stake claim for forming government in the state.
Political analyst MM Semwal
Pushkar Singh Dhami
said main factors were factored in for the selection of Dhami as the chief minister included having a leader who can provide a stable government for the next five years, one who is not controversial, who is dynamic and can take everyone along, who is hard working and can deliver when it comes to implementing the vision of the party and Modi for the development of the state.
Semwal said there were other factors that were in favour of Dhami. “He is a young leader, he has succeeded in clearing the mess after removal of two CMs and provided a stable government, his body language is humble, he has stirred any controversy, he speaks in a very measured way and he had made a mark despite having very less time.”
The biggest achievement of the 46-year-old Dhami, who had taken over as the youngest CM of the state on July 4 last year, has been that he succeeded in stabilising the government and ensured to keep his 7-month tenure free from controversies.
Unlike Trivendra Singh Rawat, against whom there was resentment among the MLAs that he doesn’t hear them or take them into confidence, Dhami succeeded in the checking that resentment.
This is one of the reasons that nearly half a dozen MLAs openly stated they are ready to vacate their seats so that Dhami could contest from one of them to continue as the CM.
Second factor, according to party insiders, is that he showed dynamism, avoided confrontations and worked very hard in last seven months and during campaigning to reach out to people in both Kumaon and Garhwal with the development works being undertaken under the leadership of Modi. He also kept telling people how Modi wants to make Uttarakhand an ideal state by 2025 for which his government has come up with a special blueprint.
Given his performance, all the BJP stalwarts, from Modi to Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh have been very appreciative of
Dhami. During rallies here, they kept showering praises on him and even stated he will lead the BJP government in the state after it comes to power.
So much so, defence minister Singh during a rally in Pithoragarh on February 8 said, “The chief minister of Uttarakhand is simple, gentle and also the name is Pushkar. There is a lot of discussion about a film these days. The name of the movie is Pushpa. Hearing Pushkar, Congress is considering him only as a flower. Our Pushkar is both flower and fire. This Pushkar Dhami will not stop or bow down,” he said. Hailing from Thakur caste, he was pitted against the veteran Thakur leader from Congress - Harish Rawat. Despite being a two-time MLA, Dhami who had has never held any administrative position before becoming CM, succeeded in ensuring a historic victory for the party.
Earlier in the day, the Governor administered oath to Bansidhar Bhagat, MLA from Kaladungi in Nainital district, as protem speaker of the state assembly. Following this, Bhagat administered oath to the newly elected assembly members.
The party is now looking forward to swearing in ceremony. Manveer Singh Chauhan, state BJP media in charge, said the party has prepared a blueprint to make the swearing in ceremony a grand and memorable event.