Pokhariyal sworn-in as Uttarakhand CM

Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank was today sworn-in as the fifth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.     

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor B L Joshi at a function organised at Rajbhavan here.     

BJP President Rajnath Singh, senior party leader M M Joshi, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Chidanand Muni of Parmarth Niketan ashram were also present during the swearing-in ceremony.     

Three MLAs — Matbar Singh Kandari, Bishan Singh Chufal and Madan Kaushik — also took oath as cabinet ministers. All the three were also cabinet ministers in the previous B C Khanduri government.

Significantly, Prakash Pant, who was in the race for the top post before the party decided to hand over the reins of the hill state to Nishank, was not considered for a ministerial berth.     

Pant was Tourism Minister in the previous government.     

MLAs belonging to camp of former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who led the oust-Khanduri campaign, also did not find place in the Nishank government.     

Fifty-one year-old Nishank took over as the chief minister of Uttarakhand after B C Khanduri bowed out of office owning moral responsibility for the BJP's rout in the hill state in the recent Lok Sabha elections.     

Earlier on Thursday, Khanduri had tendered his resignation to the Governor, paving the way for Nishank to become the new Chief Minister of the state.