After poll defeat, Dhami faces a credibility challenge in 2nd term

At the same time, however, he helped build trust in the government after the second Covid wave as the third chief minister of the state in just four months.

Having lost the election on his seat by over 6,500 votes, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has been picked for another term as the Uttarakhand chief minister, faces an uphill task of rebuilding his credibility among the masses, experts say.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Uttarakhand CM-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami, in Dehradun.(PTI)

The 46-year-old was defeated by Bhuwan Kapri of the Congress by 6,579 votes from Khatima constituency, although he earlier won from the seat twice in a row. Also, the seats won by the Bharatiya Janata Party halved to four in his home district of Udham Singh Nagar in the recently held assembly elections.

At the same time, however, he helped build trust in the government after the second Covid wave as the third chief minister of the state in just four months.

With half a dozen lawmakers, mostly from Kumaon region, offering to vacate their seat for him, according to BJP state media-in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan, Dhami has to ensure he wins the bypoll from the new seat to become a member of the assembly in order to continue in the CM’s post. “Dhami will have to rebuild his credibility as a mass leader, having lost the elections from Khatima seat, where he had won twice earlier in row. He not only lost his seat from Khatima, but BJP’s seats were halved in his home district US Nagar from 8 to 4. In the next five years, he has to strengthen his party in his home district, so that the losses in this election can be undone in the next,” Dehradun-based political analyst SMA Kazmi said.

In the six months of his tenure ahead of the elections, Dhami had to shoulder the consequences of the issues that dominated state politics over the past four and a half years. After assuming office in July last year, he was seen as someone who cleared the mess left behind by the two previous chief ministers and who stabilised the government, said MM Semwal, professor of political science at Garwhal University.

According to Semwal, unemployment, hill migration, patchy connectivity and inadequate health care in several parts of Uttarakhand are among key challenges that await the chief minister. Besides this, he will also have to revive the state’s economy, which depends heavily on tourism as the sector has been severely hit by disruptions caused by Covid-19 in the past two years.

“Dhami will have to ensure he delivers on the ambitious promises made in the party manifesto, especially providing ₹3,000 per month to trained unemployed youth, ₹6,000 pension, and insurance cover of ₹5 lakh to labourers working in the unorganised sector, three free LPG cylinders to below the poverty lines families and an additional ₹2,000 under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to farmers,” said Semwal. “Having announced the implementation of Uniform Civil Code in the state two days ahead of voting, how he does that in a state which has 13.9% Muslim population will be a major challenge before him, as it could open a Pandora’s box.”

After the BJP registered a remarkable victory in the assembly elections by winning 47 out of 70 seats on March 10, Dhami said his government would ensure the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state, as promised by his party during the poll campaigns. An expert committee comprising legal experts, prominent citizens and other stakeholders will be formed to draft the code, he added.

As the youngest CM in the state, Dhami never held any ministerial position before being appointed to the state’s top post.

Being a Thakur leader, Dhami will also have to ensure that he succeeds in creating a rapport with the party cadre and people from other regions, especially Garhwal