Considered by many as an “accidental chief minister”, 46-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami last year replaced Tirath Singh Rawat as the CM after the latter quit
Considered by many as an “accidental chief minister”, 46-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami last year replaced Tirath Singh Rawat as the CM after the latter quit
BEATING ANTI-INCUMBENCY, the BJP became the first ruling party to be voted back to power in Uttarakhand on Thursday, winning 47 seats. However, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost the election from Khatima, where Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri won by a margin of over 6,500 votes.
The Congress won 18 seats and was leading in one more in the 70-seat Assembly. According to the Election Commission data, BJP got 44.3 per cent of the votes, while the Congress got 37.9 per cent.
In 2017, the BJP had won 57 seats, Congress 11, and Independents 2.
The BJP, which had faced criticism for changing the chief minister thrice in the last five years, had announced Dhami as its CM face. But his defeat has now left the field open. BJP sources in Delhi said while Dhami enjoys the confidence of the party’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is unlikely to be named for the top post now.
“The Prime Minister has a very positive opinion about Dhami. But, in the past, he has expressed his objection to renominating defeated leaders for key posts. So there may be a change,” said a party source familiar with the development.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/elections/bjp-bucks-trend-uttarakhand-cm-pushkar-singh-dhami-stumbles-7813585/