Pushkar Singh Dhami: Man of the party

It was a sultry day on July 3, 2021, and the political temperature in the hill State of Uttarakhand was equally hot as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to announce a new Chief Minister, third one in the past four months. Names of bigwigs were making rounds in the political corridors and channel rooms as it was being anticipated that the saffron party would choose a popular figure for a stable government in the politically unstable State. But the party high command in Delhi followed its precedent of throwing surprises and chose the then 45-year-old Khatima MLA, Pushkar Singh Dhami, for the top job.

Equally surprised by the announcement like others, Mr. Dhami termed himself mukhya sevak (chief servant) as he expressed gratitude to the party leadership for nurturing him as a politician and electing ‘a two-time MLA’ as the youngest CM of the State. Ever since, his rise has been steady.

Last week, under Mr. Dhami’s leadership, Uttarakhand became the first Indian State to roll out the controversial uniform civil code, almost a year after the State assembly passed the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2024.

Born on September 15, 1975 in a remote village in Pithoragarh district of the undivided Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Dhami became the first in the family to complete post-graduation. He finished a law degree in Lucknow University, followed by a PG in human resource management and a PG diploma in public administration. He started going to the Shakha of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) while being a student at the university.

In Lucknow, Mr. Dhami met Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the second Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, who lastly served as the Governor of Maharashtra. The two shared the same caste, Thakur, and hailed from the Kumaon region of present-day Uttarakhand. Mr Koshiyari told The Hindu that he, in the very first meeting, saw a ‘leader’ in Mr. Dhami’s personality who had joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, the student wing of the RSS) in the early 1990s. BJP insiders call Mr. Koshiyari the political guru of Mr. Dhami, but the former CM humbly denies the same.

Path to power

Between 2002 and 2012, Mr. Dhami worked for the party in the back-end, and patiently waited for the right opportunity to come to the forefront. BJP leaders who are in the current Cabinet of Mr. Dhami had denied him a ticket in 2007, says a party insider. The party, however, made him president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM, the youth wing of the BJP) for two terms from 2002 to 2008.

It was in 2012 that Mr. Dhami became an MLA for the first time, from the Khatima constituency. Ever since, he has remained one of the 70 lawmakers in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

After he was chosen as the Chief Minister, Mr. Dhami knew that the journey ahead would not be smooth as his predecessors failed to finish their tenures for various reasons, including the resentment of the party cadre and legislators. Known for adapting to the ‘good qualities’ of the seniors, Mr. Dhami became another N.D. Tiwari (the third CM of Uttarakhand) who was famous for “meeting and greeting” both the party and opposition leaders, says a BJP functionary.

His people-friendly approach earned him admirers and supporters and strengthened his position in Delhi. In the 2022 elections, even after Mr. Dhami lost his own constituency, he kept the Chief Minister’s post, becoming the first leader in the history of the hill State to get two consecutive terms. Later, he contested and won from Champawat.

In his tenure of over three-and-a-half years, he brought stringent laws such as anti-cheating law, Uttarakhand Public and Private Property Damage Recovery (Ordinance) Act and now the much talked-about Uniform Civil Code. Mr. Dhami says its just a start and he will continue walking down the path shown by the party, which has “fulfilled” its promises of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, among others.