Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Uttarakhand CM-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the Chief Minister of the state at 2.30 pm on Wednesday. Along with Dhami, the cabinet will also be administered the oath here. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Parade Ground in Dehradun.
The decision was announced after the BJP's central observers for the state, Union minister Rajnath Singh and senior leader Meenakshi Lekhi, and the party's poll in charge for the state, Pralhad Joshi attended the meeting at the state party headquarters in Dehradun today.
Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 Assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post. The BJP's dilemma on the choice of a chief minister for Uttarakhand was caused by Dhami's loss in Khatima, a seat he had been winning since the 2012 Assembly polls. The party had won 47 of the 70 seats in the Assembly polls, the results of which were announced on March 10.
However, Dhami will have to become a member of the Legislative Assembly within the next 6 months. Article 164(4) of the Constitution provides that if a person is not a member of the Legislature, he cannot hold a ministerial post for more than six months. In such a situation, he will have to take membership of the house within 6 months. If not, then he will have to resign from the CM's chair. As there is no Legislative Council in Uttarakhand, Dhami has no other option but to win the assembly elections. Notably, Dhami had contested elections from the Khatima assembly seat but was defeated by Congress candidate Bhuvan Chandra Kapri by 6579 votes.
Before the Uttarakhand assembly polls, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had compared Pushkar Singh Dhami to cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhami, he said, was a good finisher, suggesting that he will get the BJP the runs it needed to win the election. While making the cricketing analogy Rajnath Singh reportedly said Dhami was working relentlessly as the CM and needed also to play a test match.
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party picked him for the CM's post again, this time for the longer version of the game. Dhami was plucked out of obscurity by the BJP last July and made the Uttarakhand chief minister, with just months to go before the state elections. He also happened to be the third leader to occupy the CM's post during 2021. Earlier in the year, Trivendra Singh Rawat had to make way for Tirath Singh Rawat.
