Pushkar Singh Dhami to take oath as new Uttarakhand Chief Minister today

Pushkar Singh Dhami will replace Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned within four months of taking charge from Trivendra Singh Rawat. He will be the third CM of the hill state in nearly four months.

New Delhi: Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as new chief minister of Uttarakhand on Sunday (July 4, 2021). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Saturday, elected Pushkar Singh Dhami as the new leader of BJP legislature party in Uttarakhand. Pushkar Singh Dhami will replace Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned within four months of taking charge from Trivendra Singh Rawat. The announcement was made by BJP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. 

"During the legislature party meeting, it was decided to appoint Pushkar Singh Dhami as Uttarakhand BJP legislature party leader. We went to the Governor to discuss the party’s decision. The oath-taking ceremony is to be held tomorrow," Tomar told ANI.

Uttarakhand on Sunday will get their 11th and the youngest Chief Minister. 45-year-old Dhami will be the hill state's youngest-ever CM. Earlier, the title was held by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who had become the Chief Minister at age of 49.

Dhami will be the third CM of the hill state in nearly four months. He is a two-time MLA from Khatima constituency in the Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand.  

After the announcement, Dhami while addressing the media said, "common party worker has been given a chance to serve the state. I am thankful to the party’s high command."

"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'll work on people's issues with the cooperation of all. I will carry forward the work done by my predecessors," he said.

"We accept the challenge and we will take forward the party and serve the people," Dhami added. 

On Friday, Tirath Singh Rawat had handed over his resignation to Governor citing that there could be a 'constitutional crisis'. Talking to reporters, Rawat said, "I have submitted my resignation to Governor. Given the constitutional crisis, I felt it was right for me to resign. I am thankful to the central leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for every opportunity they have given to me so far.” 

Tirath Singh Rawat took over as the Chief Minister on March 10 this year. He had to be elected to the state assembly within six months since he was not an MLA and there was uncertainty over bypolls being held in the state since assembly elections are due in less than a year. 

Former Uttarakhand minister and Congress leader Navprabhat had earlier this week written to the Election Commission urging it to "clear the confusion" in the state regarding by-polls. 

The Congress leader quoted Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates that the Election Commission fill the casual vacancies in state legislatures through bye-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more.

(With ANI inputs)