Leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Pushkar Singh Dhami, took oath as eleventh chief minister of Uttarakhand.

Highlights:

=> He sworn in as Chief Minister a day after he was elected as leader of BJP’s legislature party in state.

=> He was administered oath of office by governor Baby Rani Maurya at Raj Bhavan in Dehradun.

=> Along with him, BJP MLAs Satpal Maharaj, Bansidhar Bhagat, Harak Singh Rawat, Bishan Singh Chuphal, Yashpal Arya, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey and Ganesh Joshi were also sworn in as ministers in new state cabinet.

Who is Pushkar Singh Dhami?

Pushkar Singh Dhami, aged 45, is a lawmaker from Khatima assembly constituency. He has become the youngest chief minister of Uttarakhand, succeeding MP Tirath Singh Rawat. He never had held any ministerial position before being elevated as chief minister. Dhami was unanimous choice of all 56 members of BJP’s legislature party.

Why Tirath Singh Rawat resigned?

Tirath Singh Rawat had resigned because of uncertainty over by polls he was required to win in order to continue as chief minister. As per rules, he had six months from his swearing in to be elected as member of legislative assembly to continue his term as Chief Minister. But the Election Commission of India (ECI) has option of not conducting bypolls if term of assembly is expiring in less than a year. Under this scenario, Rawat became ineligible to stay in office.

Background:

Assembly elections in Uttarakhand is likely to take place in early 2022. Last elections were held in 2017, in which BJP won 56 of state’s 70 assembly constituencies. BJP leader Trivendra Singh Rawat took oath as the chief minister of State then.