The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) decided on Monday to retain the sitting chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Goa by electing Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant as the legislative party leaders of their respective states, roughly ten days after winning assembly elections.
The two states’ BJP legislators met in Dehradun and Panaji and elected Dhami, who lost his own seat but helped propel the party to a landslide victory, and Sawant as leaders. Dhami, who became the hill state’s youngest chief minister in July last year, was unanimously elected as the legislative party’s leader.
He was chosen for his role in restoring the party’s ship following the succession of two chief executives in four months in 2021, as well as for leading the party to a clear majority. However, his shock election defeat in the Khatima constituency will require him to win a by-election to the state assembly within six months of taking office.
Rajnath Singh, the BJP’s central observer and Defence Minister, announced Dhami’s nomination following a brief meeting of the BJP legislature party in Dehradun attended by Union ministers Meenakshi Lekhi and Prahlad Joshi.
“Within six months, Dhami imprinted himself on Uttarakhand, as evidenced by the election results,” Rajnath Singh told reporters after announcing Dhami’s election as the legislature party leader.
The BJP has renewed its confidence in Dhami because he understands how to run a government, the defence minister said, adding that all MLAs voted unanimously in his favour.
In Goa, Sawant was declared the winner following a two-and-a-half-hour legislative party meeting chaired by central ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan. Sawant’s appointment as legislative party chief was proposed by state minister Vishwajit Rane, who was also aggressively lobbying for the position but received insufficient support from party lawmakers.
In the evening, Sawant formally declared his intention to form the government, backed by 25 of the state’s 40 legislators – 20 from his party, two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, and three independents.
“I inquired as to whether there was another name, and all elected members stated their support for Pramod Sawant,” Tomar said.
With this announcement, the party has officially named chief ministers in three of the four states where it won assembly elections earlier this month, and has endorsed the incumbent in each. N Biren Singh, along with other ministers, took the oath of office in Manipur on Monday.
A formal announcement is pending for Uttar Pradesh, where sitting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to reclaim the throne following his historic retention of power following the completion of a full term.
In Uttarakhand, the BJP won 47 of 70 seats, while in Goa, it won 20 of 40 seats and received support from two independents and two MGP legislators.
Published By – Damandeep Singh
Edited By-Kritika Kashyap
