Uttarakhand polls were completed on 14 February in single phase. Parties have announced their CM faces.
The hilly state of Uttarakhand is the political battlefield for Bhartiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress. In the 5th Vidhan Sabha Elections, 2022, Aam Aadmi Party has a strong debut in the state.
Different political parties had finalized the name of Chief Minister faces if their party comes to power in Uttarakhand. Let’s know a few things about CM faces.
Pushkar Singh Dhami
Dhami is the youngest Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and started his tenure on 3 July 2021 after the resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar, and this year too, he is contesting from the same seat. Dhami was born in Pithoragarh but was brought up in Khatima primarily.
Dhami started his political career as ABVP Karyakarta in 1990. Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the student wing of BJP. He was State Chief of Bhartiya Yuva Jan Morcha till 2008. He also served as political advisor to former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Ajay Kothiyal
Ajay Kothiyal is Aam Aadmi Party’s CM face in Uttarakhand. He is from Tehri Garwal. Kothiyal is a political newbie and started his political career by joining AAP in April 2021. He is a retired colonel. He is popularly known as ‘Bhole Ka Fauji’ in Uttarakhand for his dedication to the redevelopment of Kedarnath.
AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal said that when politicians were busy looting Uttarakhand, Kothiyal faced bullets of India’s enemies. He is contesting from the Gangotri seat.
Kothiyal is a mountaineer and served as Principal of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi. His ‘Youth Foundation,’ a non-profit trust, trains people from Uttarakhand to join Army.
He was awarded Uttarakhand Ratna Award in 2016 for his efforts of Upliftment and employment generation for youth. He is a decorated army personnel.
Congress is yet to announce its CM face. If Congress comes to power in the state, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat is likely to be the CM of Uttarakhand.
Harish Rawat
INC’s experienced leader Harish Rawat can lead the Congress’s government. Rawat was born and brought up at Almora in the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand. Earlier, he has lost three elections from Haridwar rural and Kiccha in 2017 and 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Nainital- US Nagar.
Rawat is standing fresh this year from Lalkuan in Nainital with his vision to protect the intrinsic values of the state. He said BJP’s government had endangered these values for the last five years.
“People of Lalkua are set to repose their faith in a well-tested leader like me, whom they know well,”
said the veteran leader of Congress.
Harish Rawat was the Union Minister of Water Resources in the UPA-II Government between 2012-2014. Rawat has been five times MP in his political career.
He was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2014 to 2016 for the first time and retook the position from 11 May 2016 to 18 March 2017.
He has also served as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, MoS of Food and Processing, MoS of agriculture, and MoS of Labour and Employment.
Edited by: Mahi Gupta
Published by: Vishakha Verma
