On Saturday, Bhartiya Janta Party MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami was named the new chief minister of Uttarakhand where assembly polls are due next year. The youngest to ever become Uttarakhand CM, the 45-year-old Dhami will be sworn as the 11th chief minister of the hill state following his election on Saturday as the leader of the BJP legislature party. Dhami is also the third CM to be elected in the state in the past four months.
Who is Pushkar Singh Dhami?
Dhami was born in Pithoragarh in 1975 and at age 45, Dhami is set to replace Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as the youngest CM. The latter assumed office at the age of 49 years.
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Dhami is a graduate in law with an LLB from Lucknow University. In 2017, he changed his profession to advocate from farmer as per the self-declared affidavit he had filed in 2012 ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
Roots in Sangh Parivar
An unusual choice for CM, Dhami is a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer with roots in the Sangh Parivar. He started his career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the Sangh, and was a member for 10 years. His association with the state's youth politics dates back to the 1990s and he was a member of ABVP till 1999.
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In his long career, Dhamihas worked with a number of RSS's affiliate bodies for over three decades. Dhami is currently the state Vice President of BJP's Uttarakhand unit.
Following the stint in ABVP, Dhami went on to hold the post of BJP's Uttarakhand Yuva Morcha President twice till 2008.
Making his way up, the two-time MLA was first elected from Khatima constituency of Udham Singh Nagar district in 2012 before being re-elected again in 2017. Over the years, the leader has held several cabinet positions in Uttarakhand as well.
Dhami is known to be close to former Uttarakhand CM Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. He served as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) during the former's tenure between 2001-2002 and was also the vice president of the state's urban monitoring community, The Indian Express reported. Koshayri is the present Governor of Maharashtra.
Dhami is also said to be close to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Caste equations
Dhami belongs to the Thakur community. Experts feel that by making Dhami the CM a year before the state goes to polls, BJP may be attempting to balance regional caste equations. According to a report in The Print, the new CM has been welcomed by all within the state BJP leadership with members of the party describing him as a "gentleman".
With Uttarakhand going to the polls next year, Dhami is faced with the challenges of short tenure and lack of administrative experience. With the BJP traditionally known to change CM faces in Uttarakhand with every assembly election, how long Dhami manages to hold on to the youngest CM tag is for time to tell.
