Pushkar Singh Dhami to take oath as Uttarakhand CM | 5 things to know about him

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the Uttarakhand chief minister on Wednesday for a second consecutive term, despite losing his seat in the Khatima constituency. Uttarakhand governor Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh is set to administer the oath to Dhami at the parade ground in Dehradun.

Here are 5 things to know about Pushkar Singh Dhami:

1. Pushkar Singh Dhami was born in 1975 and is the son of an ex-serviceman. He was born in Kanalichhina village in the state's Pithoragarh district. His family moved to Tundi village where he studied until Class 5, after which they moved to Nagla Tarai Bhabar in Khatima.

2. Dhami graduated from the University of Lucknow with degrees in human resource management and industrial relations. He also holds a law degree. He has worked as a volunteer for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP and was also a member of the youth wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

3. Dhami previously served as an adviser to former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who held the post in 2001.

4. Dhami has served as the president of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Uttarakhand twice between 2002 and 2008.

5. He will be the 13th chief minister of the hill state belonging from the Kumaun region. The last two chief ministers belonged to the Garhwal region.

Read more: After poll defeat, Dhami faces a credibility challenge in 2nd term

In last month's election the BJP won 47 of 70 seats. The Congress won just 19. However, Dhami lost his seat. Nevertheless, the BJP became the first party in Uttarakhand's 21-year-old history to retain power.

Dhami had lost to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes. He got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent against Kapri who had a 51.89 percent vote share. Earlier, Dhami had won twice from the Khatima seat.

Also read: Pushkar Dhami to take oath tomorrow as Uttarakhand chief minister for a 2nd term

On Monday, Dhami was elected as the leader of the state BJP legislature party. After his oath-taking, Dhami will have six months to become a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to continue as the chief minister. A by-poll election will be held in which Dhami will contest, that will further decide his fate to remain the chief minister.