After days of deliberations and discussions, Pushkar Dhami will be sworn in as Uttarakhand’s next chief minister for a second straight term on Wednesday. His cabinet is also likely to take oath along with him in Dehradun, according to reports. The hilly state of Uttarakhand was one of the four states where the BJP claimed victory. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the party’s choice for the chief ministerial post for others states, including Goa and Manipur, was not as obvious. But all the states will see same leaders in the chief minster’s role for another term. Pramod Sawant will continue to be Goa CM and Manipur’s Biren Singh was sworn in for another term on Monday.
On Dhami’s agenda, after the government formation, is likely to be the Uniform Civil Code. “We will fulfil all the commitments that we made to people ahead of the polls. The uniform civil code is an important one among them and we will fulfil it too,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
His defeat in his own constituency of Khatima may pose a credibililty challenge for one of the youngest chief ministers the state has seen. He took charge last year when two chief ministers had stepped down in quick sucession – Trivendra Singh Rawat and Teerath Singh Rawat.
“I thank the people for believing in the prime minister’s vision and giving the BJP a big victory. I also thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the home minister, party president J P Nadda and Rajnath Singh, who was the party’s central observer for Uttarakhand, for showing confidence in an ordinary worker and the son of a soldier like me,” he told reporters as he was picked by the party on Monday after a key meeting.
“We will give a transparent government and fulfil the commitments we have made to people. The prime minister has given us his vision for Uttarakhand’s development and said the decade belongs to the state. We will work in accordance with his vision and make Uttarakhand a leading state when it celebrates the silver jubilee of its existence in 2022,” Dhami assured.
Uttar Pradesh will see Yogi Adityanath taking oath on Friday in a grand cermony.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
