Pushkar Singh Dhami picked as new Uttarakhand Chief Minister

New Delhi, July 03: Two time MLA Pushkar Singh Dhami has been picked as new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, day after Tirath Singh Rawat quit. The 45-year-old MLA is all set to become youngest chief minister in the state's history.

The Uttarakhand BJP legislature party met on Saturday afternoon to elect its new leader, a day after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned as chief minister after a less than four-month stint.

Central observers Narendra Singh Tomar, D Purandeswari present at BJP meet to elect new Uttarakhand CM.

"My party has appointed a common worker, son of an ex-serviceman, who was born in Pithoragarh to serve the state. We'll work together for people's welfare. We accept the challenge of serving people with the help of others, in a short time span," said Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Ending speculations, embattled Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat late on Friday night submitted his resignation letter to Governor Baby Rani Maurya, marking the end of his rather short tenure.

Confirming his resignation, Rawat later said, "I resigned to avoid a Constitutional crisis that arises due to Sections 164 and 151 of the Representation of the People Act 1951."

The Congress hit out at the BJP leadership, saying instead of ushering in development, it has thrown Uttarakhand into political instability and betrayed its people by repeatedly changing chief ministers.

After Rawat's resignation, the BJP was faced with the challenge of choosing a leader acceptable to the party's central and State leadership, as well as the RSS.

The names of nearly half a dozen MLAs was doing rounds for as the frontrunner to the top post, including Trivendra Singh Rawat, Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat and Pushkar Singh Dhami.