New Delhi: Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Madan Kaushik is heading to Delhi on Sunday, as suspense over the next chief minister of the state prevails after the loss of Pushkar Singh Dhami from the Khatima assembly constituency. Kaushik is heading to the national capital for consultations with the top brass of the BJP, news agency ANI reported.
Union Minister Ajay Bhatt met National General Secretary of the BJP, Bommarabettu Laxmijanardhana Santhosh, on Saturday, Satpal Maharaj, Uttarakhand Irrigation Minister and Subodh Uniyal, Agriculture Minister of Uttarakhand, have also left for the national capital, ANI reported.
Quoting one of the state BJP leaders, an ANI report said that the decision for the selection of the next Uttarakhand CM may take some time. “These leaders are saying that the decision will be taken after Uttarakhand election in-charge and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya submit the report of Uttarakhand poll results to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah," the BJP leader further said.
After the conclusion of the Assembly elections, Uttarakhand outgoing Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami resigned to pave the way for the formation of the new government in the state.
Around seven MLAs have met Dhami to offer to vacate their seats for him to contest for re-election in the event he's elected leader of the legislature party of the BJP in the state, following his resignation.
Dhami’s Cabinet colleagues, Ganesh Joshi and Arvind Pandey, also announced their support to him, the report said,
Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri had defeated Dhami by a margin of 6,579 votes. Dhami polled 41,598 votes, while Kapri polled 48,177 votes. The latter had a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent.
The BJP bagged 47 seats in the 70-assembly of Uttarakhand, and won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in the state.