Maj Gen Khanduri sworn in as Uttarakhand CM

Dehra Dun, Mar 8 (UNI) Maj-Gen (retd) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri of the BJP, who spearheaded the party's victorious campaign in the Uttarakhand polls, was today sworn in as the fourth Chief Minister of the state here.

Governor Sudarshan Agarwal administered the oath of office to Maj Gen Khanduri at the packed Parade Ground in the presence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP stalwarts like Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and outgoing Congress Chief Minister N D Tiwari.

Former Speaker Prakash Pant was also administered oath as a Minister.

BJP President Rajnath Singh and party spokesperson and Uttarakhand in-charge Ravishankar Prasad and MP Hema Malini reached the function after the swearing-in ceremony was over.

Addressing a press conference later, Mr Singh said the BJP would form a seven-member coordination committee to ensure better coordination between the government and party organisation for rendering better service to the public.

''BJP State Chief Bhagat Singh Koshyari will be the Chairman of the Committee and alongwith Mr Khanduri, would decide on the membership of the committee,'' he added.

BJP had emerged as the largest party in the recently concluded Assembly election in the state winning 34 seats out of 69 for which elections were held. The BJP was one MLA short of forming the government. However with the support of two independents and three MLAs of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, the party will be able to form the government.

Maj Gen Khanduri has been given time by the Governor till March 20 to prove his majority in the Assembly.

The ex-Addl Director General in the Engineer-in-Chief's branch of the Army will have to use all his managerial and technical skills to maintain the stability of his government, which is just short of a majority of its own.

Commissioned into the Indian Army's Corps of Engineers in 1954, Gen Khanduri served in a variety of important posts, both command and staff, during his military career, including command of his regiment in the 1971 war, and heading an Engineer Brigade. His staff appointments included a stint as Addl DG in the Military Secretary's Branch and ADG in the the Engineer-in-Chief's branch. He was conferred the AVSM in 2982.

Joining politics after his retirement in 1990, he was first elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Pauri-Garhwal constituency in the 1991 election and retained the seat in 1998, 1999 and 2004 general elections. During his first three stints (1991-96, 1998-99 and 1999) in Parliament, he served as the party's Chief Whip. He served as party nominee on several important parliamentary committees including Committee on Public Accounts, Rules Committee, Business Advisory Commiittee and the Consultative Committee of the Defence Ministry.

The new Chief Minister later took the blessings of sadhu sants who were present on the dias to witness the ceremony.

Among other dignitaries present at the ceremony were Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, Mr K C Pant, Mr Vijay Bahuguna Congress MP from Tehri and BJP leader Matbar Singh Kandari.

Mr Singh said it was the prerogative of the Chief Minister to select his cabinet colleagues.

After proving his majority in the Assembly, Gen Khanduri and Mr Koshyari would complete the formalities of chalking out the cabinet in coming days.

UNI