Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on March 23, the BJP said on Tuesday, at a ceremony scheduled to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides Dhami, who will be sworn in as CM for a second consecutive term, his Cabinet will also take oath during the ceremony starting 2.30 pm at Parade Ground, Dehradun. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda are also scheduled to attend, besides Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his counterparts from Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Renowned social workers, litterateur, writers, and seers of temples and mutts have also been invited. The party said it is expecting a participation of “40-50 thousand” people. “Small poojas have also been organized at worker shakti kendras by workers before arriving at the (oath ceremony) venue,” Uttarakhand BJP media in-charge Manveer Chauhan said. Dhami was announced as the next CM on Monday after newly elected BJP MLAs met at the party office in Dehradun to choose their leader. Rajnath Singh, who was appointed BJP's observer to oversee selection of the legislature party leader in the state, and minister Meenakshi Lekhi, the co-observer, attended the meeting. In the recently held Assembly polls, the BJP won 47 out of 70 seats, while the Congress won 19. The BSP and Independents bagged two seats each. Bucking the usual election pattern in Uttarakhand, the BJP became the first ruling party to be voted back to power in the state. Dhami, however, lost the election from Khatima seat to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri.
