Dehradun: A day after being elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party, the two-time legislator Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday took oath as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
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.
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After taking oath, the two-time MLA from the Kumaon region (Khatima constituency) told media that he will focus on managing the pandemic.
"I will try my best to meet the expectations of the party, which has chosen me to serve the people of Uttarakhand. I have been working among youngsters and I understand the issues very well. COVID has impacted their livelihood. We will try to make the situation better for them and will try to appoint youngsters for the vacant posts in the state," the new Chief Minister told ANI.
"I will try my best to meet the expectations of the party, which has chosen me to serve the people of Uttarakhand," he added.
On being asked if the change of CM will have an effect on the next Assembly elections, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "No, it will have no impact on the next Assembly elections. So many projects of development have been implemented in Uttarakhand by State & Central governments."
Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath to Dhami earlier today. Post swearing-in ceremony, Dhami received Guard of Honour at Bijapur Safe House, Dehradun.
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Besides Dhami, 11 Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs including Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Bansidhar Bhagat, and Yashpal Arya also took oath as ministers in the new state cabinet. Other MLAs Bishan Singh Chuphal, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey, Ganesh Joshi, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya and Yatishwaranand sworn-in as ministers in the new State Cabinet.
Several top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath extended congratulatory messages to Dhami.
His predecessor Tirath Singh Rawat also extended his wishes saying that the state will establish new dimensions of development under Dhami's leadership.