Newly-elected Uttarakhand MLAs take oath; CM announcement by evening
The newly-elected Uttarakhand MLAs took the oath of office on Monday at a ceremony held at the Uttarakhand Assembly in Dehradun. Bansidhar Bhagat, pro-tem Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly administered the oath to the MLAs. However, the name of the chief minister shall be announced by Monday evening at the Legislative Party meeting as per Madan Kaushik, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Uttarakhand chief.
Why does this story matter?
On Sunday, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Kaushik, and former Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi to discuss the formation of the government. BJP President JP Nadda, party leaders BL Santhosh, and Uttarakhand minister Satpal Maharaj were also present. "We have many options for the CM face," ex-Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh said on Sunday.
CM announcement to be in the presence of central leadership
"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and MoS MEA Meenakshi Lekhi will be arriving tomorrow for the Legislature Party meeting to be held in Dehradun where the CM's name will be declared. The swearing-in ceremony will take place after meeting," Manveer Chauhan, the state media in-charge, was quoted as saying by ANI on Sunday. "The process of government formation is underway," caretaker CM Pushkar Dhami.
Reason behind delay in announcing CM's name
The BJP was re-elected to power in Uttarakhand, winning 47 of the 70 Assembly seats. With 19 seats, Congress emerged as the second-largest party. However, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami was defeated by Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri in the Khatima constituency by a margin of 6,579 votes. He resigned from his position as CM on March 11th and is currently the caretaker-CM of Uttarakhand.
Many MLAs demand Dhami to be their CM
Notably, Rekha Arya, a BJP MLA, and former minister has endorsed Dhami as the next Chief Minister. Several MLAs, including Ganesh Joshi and Arvind Pandey, have agreed to Dhami's appointment as legislative party leader. So far, six BJP MLAs have stated their willingness to resign from their Assembly seats in order to assist Dhami in being elected to the House.
What did Dhami say about the post of CM?
"The BJP central leadership will take a decision (on CM face)," said Dhami, at Uttarakhand Bhawan in Delhi on Sunday. Notably, the BJP appointed three Chief Ministers in Uttarakhand within the span of 5 years during the last tenure.
