Dehradun: Two-time legislator Pushkar Singh Dhami took oath as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand following his election on Saturday as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the hill state ahead of assembly polls 2022.
The oath taking ceremony held at Raj Bhawan saw the presence of cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj, Shrinagar MLA Dhan Singh Rawat, Didihat MLA and BJP's former Uttarakhand chief Bishan Singh Chuphal and state unit president Madan Kaushik among several other politicians and BJP leaders.
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During the oath taking ceremony, 11 MLAs inlcuding Harak Singh Rawat, Bansidhar Bhagat, Yashpal Arya, Ganseh Joshi, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya, Swami Yatishwar, Bishan Singh Chuphal, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey and Ganesh Joshi sworn-in as ministers in the new State Cabinet.
Replacing Tirath Singh Rawat, the 45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami is the youngest, and the eleventh chief minister of the state. He is the third chief minister to lead the state in less than four months.
Notably, Mr Dhami has never been a minister in the state government and is now set to head the state as the chief minister, overlooking many senior leaders. The development comes ahead of polls for the 70 member Uttarakhand Assembly, scheduled in early 2022.
"My party has appointed a common worker, son of an ex-serviceman, who was born in Pithoragarh to serve the state. We'll work together for people's welfare. We accept the challenge of serving people with the help of others, in a short time span," Dhami told reporters after being announced as Uttarakhand CM.
Pushkar Singh Dhami is a member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from the Khatima constituency in the Udham Singh Nagar district. He has been elected as the Khatima constituency MLA twice. Dhami is said to have proved his dedication to the party with his work as the BJP state Youth Wing head.