Pushkar Singh Dhami will be taking over as the chief minister of Uttarakhand for a second consecutive term, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Monday, 21 March, following its legislature party meeting. He will be serving as the 12th chief minister of the state.
Dhami was elected to the top post despite losing his own seat Khatima to Congress party candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri in the recently concluded 2022 Assembly polls.
His swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states likely to attend the event.
Dhami was first appointed as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand in July 2021 after after former CM Tirath Singh Rawat submitted his resignation.
Advocate and Two-Time BJP MLA
Dhami was born in a small village in Pithoragarh district. His father used to serve in the army.
He finished his early education in the village and went to Lucknow University for higher studies.
Dhami is an advocate by profession and was an MLA from the Khatima constituency of Udham Singh Nagar district for the previous two terms.
However, he has a strong hold over the youth of the state, having been the chief of the party's Uttarakhand youth wing – the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha – from 2002 to 2006.
He has also been the vice-president of the Uttarakhand BJP in the past.
Dhami is considered to be close to Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former Uttarakhand chief minister and now the governor of Maharashtra. He was previously an advisor to Koshyari when the latter was the CM.
Apart from this, he is also reported to be close to former state president and Nainital MP Ajay Bhatt.
(With inputs from NDTV and Hindustan Times.)
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