Ahead of the state assembly elections in Uttarakhand, two chief ministers have already been replaced and Pushkar Singh Dhami will become the third CM in four months. The 45-year-old politician is a two-time legislator representing the Khatima constituency in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar. There are several crucial challenges he will have to tackle.
After being named as the Chief Minister of the Himalayan state, Pushkar Singh Dhami said: "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.”
Dhami will take oath as the CM of Uttarakhand at 6 pm today.
Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar who acted as the key observer at the BJP’s Legislature Party meeting on Saturday, along with Tirath Singh Rawat and party state president Madan Kaushik had suggested Dhami as the next CM of the state.
Other senior leaders who agreed with Dhami’s recommendation were Trivendra Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Yashpal Arya, Harak Singh Rawat, Bansidhar Bhagat, Ritu Khanduri, Dhan Singh Rawat.
Tomar said, “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 the legislature party unanimously.”
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Things to know about the 11th chief minister of Uttarakhand:-
1. Born in the Kanalichhina area of Pithoragarh in 1975, Dhami will be the third CM to take the top office in a short period of just 116 days.
2. Dhami who is 45 now will be the youngest CM of the hill state.
3. Dhami has a connection with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate bodies for more than 30 years, while for 10 years he was a member of the RSS students wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) worked in Uttar Pradesh’s Awadh region during the period.
4. Dhami has worked as the president of the BJP’s Uttarakhand Yuva Morcha twice from 2002 to 2008 and was posted as the vice-chairman with state minister rank of the urban monitoring committee in the state.
5. Dhami, is the son of a former Indian Army personnel and had served as an officer on special duty (OSD) to now Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari when he became chief minister of Uttarakhand in 2001.
6. Dhami was actively involved in BJP’s affairs when Koshiyari became the president of the state unit of the party in 2002.
7. Koshiyari encouraged Dhami to venture into politics in 2012 and he successfully contested the polls from the Khatima assembly seat.
8. Reportedly, Dhami is said to be close to defence minister Rajnath Singh.
9. It was when BJP could not win the Uttarakhand assembly election by just one seat under the leadership of BC Khanduri, that Dhami became an MLA for the first time in 2012.
10. Dhami clutched his Khatima seat in 2017 when the BJP acquired power in Uttarakhand winning 57 seats in the 70-member House.
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11. Dhami holds a degree in law graduate in human resource management and industrial relations.