Uttarakhand: Pushkar Singh Dhami takes oath as CM in Dehradun; PM Modi, Amit Shah in attendance

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pushkar Singh Dhami took oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand for his second consecutive term on Wednesday. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Parade Ground in Dehradun. Along with him, the cabinet ministers also took the oath. Eight ministers were sworn in along with Dhami. Five of them - Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya, Ganesh Joshi - will be taking oath for the second consecutive term.  There are three first-timers - Chandan Ram Das, Saurabh Bahuguna, Prem Chand Aggarwal Dhami was elected leader of the BJP legislature party in Uttarakhand on Monday, paving the way for his taking over the reins of the state for a second time. _**Also read: Uttarakhand Assembly election results 2022: Pushkar Singh Dhami didn't win a seat but will be CM. Here’s how**_ Dhami, who lost from the Khatima constituency in the Uttarakhand, led the party’s poll effort as Chief Minister during the assembly polls held last month. The results were announced on March 10 and there was speculation if he would be the chief minister for a second time. Who all attended the event? Dhami took oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda and a host of party leaders including the chief ministers of various BJP ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and his Himachal Pradesh counterpart Jairam Thakur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders attend the swearing-in ceremony of Uttarkhand CM-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun. pic.twitter.com/lsAWXgsvul

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2022

Uttarakhand | CMs of BJP ruled states attend the swearing-in ceremony of CM-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun. Goa CM-designate Pramod Sawant and Rajasthan BJP leader Vasundhara Raje also present. pic.twitter.com/3lz3Uqqvcu

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2022

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Dhami offered prayers at the Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple on Wednesday morning hours ahead of being sworn in as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Accompanied by Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi and others Dhami offered ‘jalabhishek’ at the Shiva temple located along the banks of the Tons river and prayed for the welfare and prosperity of the state. He also paid obeisance at a Gurudwara at Race Course in the city.

BJP's Pushkar Singh Dhami offers prayers at Tapkeshwar Mahadev temple in Dehradun before taking oath as the CM of Uttarakhand

"I will be taking the oath today. People of the state has given us 2/3rd majority and today our government is officially going to be formed," he says pic.twitter.com/JZOS8T3CNY

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 23, 2022

Background on Dhami He had been brought in as a replacement for former chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat in July last year towards the fag end of the BJP government’s last tenure. The BJP had contested the February 14 assembly polls seeking a full five-year term for the state’s youngest CM. Though losing his own seat of Khatima which he had been winning since the 2012 assembly polls, 46-year-old Dhami was credited for the BJP’s big win in the state assembly polls in which the party won 47 out of a total of 70 assembly seats. Dhami had all along been projected by the party as its chief ministerial candidate. Several names, including that of former union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, MLA Dhan Singh Rawat and Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj were doing the rounds as possible choices for chief minister. Dhami had lost to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes in the state polls. He got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent against Kapri who got 48,177 with 51.89 per cent votes. Dhami had won twice from the seat. The son of an ex-serviceman, Dhami was born in 1975 in Kanalichhina village in Pithoragarh district. He holds a law degree and worked as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer. He also had been a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Dhami served as the president of BJP Yuva Morcha in Uttarakhand twice between 2002 and 2008. He is believed to be a protege of former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Dhami will be the 13th Chief Minister of the hill state. He belongs to the Kumaun region. The last two chief ministers before him were from the Garhwal region. The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand and won 47 seats in the 70-member assembly. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.