Is Pushkar Singh Dhami BJP's New Silent Poster Boy Of Hindutva?

New Delhi: Pushkar Singh Dhami, who is the youngest and the first-time chief minister of Uttarakhand, has emerged as a ‘silent poster boy’ of Hindutva, a term that denotes the ideology of Hindu nationalism. He has adopted the policies and legislations that reflect the RSS-BJP’s vision of politics, which are similar to those of other hardline Hindutva leaders such as Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Dhami, who started his political career as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP, has also served as an adviser to former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who is known for his pro-Hindutva views. He has also been the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, where he advocated for reserving 70% of opportunities for the local youth in the industries of the state.

Dhami, who lost his seat in the 2022 assembly elections from Khatima constituency, was re-elected as the chief minister by the BJP MLAs. He later won the Champawat bypoll by a huge margin of over 55,000 votes. He is the only chief minister of the state to assume a second consecutive term since its creation in 2000.

UCC Bill: A Historic Move Or Divisive Agenda?

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has made history by introducing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in the state assembly on Tuesday, 6 February, amid chants of “Jai Sri Ram” and “Vande Mataram”. The bill, if passed, would make Uttarakhand the first state in India to implement the UCC, a long-standing demand of the BJP and the RSS. 

The UCC is a proposed law that would replace the personal laws of different religious communities with a common set of rules governing marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and other matters. The BJP claims that the UCC would ensure gender justice and national integration, while the opposition parties and some minority groups argue that it would violate the constitutional right to freedom of religion and cultural diversity.

The UCC bill is one of the key promises of the BJP in its manifesto for the 2022 state assembly elections, which are expected to be held in March. The BJP hopes that the bill would consolidate its core Hindu vote base and counter the anti-incumbency factor. The bill would also set an example for other BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat and Assam, where similar proposals have been mooted.

War Against 'Love Jihad', 'Land Jihad'

Another issue that has brought Dhami to the limelight is his stance on ‘love jihad’ and ‘land jihad’, two terms used by some Hindu groups to allege that Muslim men are converting Hindu women to Islam through marriage and that Muslim communities are occupying government lands illegally.

Dhami, who became the chief minister in July 2021 after the resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat, has followed the footsteps of his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath, who has been vocal about his opposition to ‘love jihad’ and has enacted a law to curb it. The law, which prohibits conversion for the sake of marriage, has been challenged in the courts for violating the fundamental rights of individuals.

Dhami has also supported the actions of vigilante groups who claim to prevent ‘love jihad’ by harassing and attacking interfaith couples. He has said that the state needs a stricter anti-conversion law because Uttarakhand is “the land of the gods” and acts like religious conversion are “harmful to us”. In 2021, the Uttarakhand assembly passed a law that increased the maximum punishment for ‘forced’ conversions from five to ten years.

Dhami has also launched an anti-encroachment drive in the state, which he claims is aimed at freeing 5,000 acres of land from ‘land jihad’. He has accused a particular community (referring to Muslims) of illegally occupying land and building structures in the border areas of the state. As part of the drive, the Dhami government has demolished around 500 ‘mazars’ (tomb shrines) and 50 temples, sparking protests from the affected communities.