New chief minister for Uttarakhand? Pushkar Singh Dhami's loss in Assembly polls leads to uncertainty

Dehradun: While the BJP has returned to power in Uttarakhand with a two-third majority in the 70-member Assembly, the defeat of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami from his Khatima seat has raised doubts and uncertainty over who will be the next chief minister of the state. BJP won 47 seats and got a vote share of 44.33 per cent. But Dhami lost out to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes in the Khatima constituency.

Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent. However, some BJP MLAs including Kailash Gahtori and Suresh Gadiya have expressed their willingness to give up their respective seats for Dhami to contest as he suffered defeat in Khatima.

While there is uncertainty over the next chief minister of Uttarakhand after Dhami's loss, the BJP leadership has started consultations with the MLAs. Sources said that BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and others held informal consultations with the MLAs in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun. "To get a sense of the MLAs' mood, Vijayvargiya has met a few of them. The exercise has started to find the next chief minister after the party's victory and Dhami's loss," they said.

After Dhami lost in the assembly polls, several names have started doing the rounds in Uttarakhand political circles. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt is likely to emerge as the frontrunner.

A party insider said that there is a section in the party which feels that Dhami should be given a chance for the hard work he put in to ensure a BJP victory. "However, there is another section which believes that making Dhami the chief minister will set a wrong precedent and in the future, many others will start claiming the post after losing the election," he said.

Meanwhile,  a day after BJP recorded a big victory in Uttarakhand, CM Dhami on Friday handed his resignation and that of his cabinet to Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh. "As we have got a new mandate and our tenure is complete we have tendered our resignation to the Governor. I have been asked to continue until the new government is sworn in," Dhami told reporters after coming out of Raj Bhawan.

(With Agency inputs)

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