Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday took oath as the eleventh chief minister of Uttarakhand, a day after he was elected as the leader of the BJP's legislature party in the hill state, thus paving the way for his elevation as to the state's top post. Dhami was administered oath of office by governor Baby Rani Maurya at the Raj Bhavan in Dehradun.BJP MLAs Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Bansidhar Bhagat, Yashpal Arya, Bishan Singh Chuphal, Subodh Uniyal, Arvind Pandey and Ganesh Joshi were also sworn in as ministers in the new state cabinet.
Dhami, the lawmaker from the Khatima assembly constituency, is the youngest chief minister of Uttarakhand, which came into existence in November 2000 after being carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Dhami, who had never held any ministerial position before being elevated as the chief minister, succeeds Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned on Friday. Rawat himself succeeded Trivendra Singh Rawat, and was in office for only around four months.Dhami was a "unanimous" choice of all 56 members of the BJP's legislature party, according to former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat. "We're sure that Uttarakhand will attain new heights of development in the coming period under his leadership," Rawat said. Assembly elections in Uttarakhand are likely to take place in early 2022. In the previous elections, in 2017, the BJP won 56 of the state's 70 assembly constituencies. BJP leader Trivendra Singh Rawat was then sworn in as the chief minister.