Pushkar Singh Dhami gets second term in Uttarakhand, Pramod Sawant in Goa

Pushkar Singh Dhami will continue as the Uttarakhand chief minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday, ending the 11-day suspense over it.

The BJP legislative party meeting to elect the new chief minister of Uttarakhand had begun here around 5 pm.

It was attended by BJP's central observers for Uttarakhand Rajnath Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi and the party's poll incharge for the state, Pralhad Joshi.

Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 Assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post.

The BJP's dilemma on the choice of a chief minister for Uttarakhand was caused by Dhami's loss in Khatima, a seat he had been winning since the 2012 Assembly polls.

The party had won 47 of the 70 seats in the Assembly polls, the results of which were announced on March 10.

BJP’s N Biren Singh (right) was sworn in as the chief minister of Manipur for a second time at the Raj Bhavan on Monday. His rival for the top job, Thongam Biswajit Singh, was accommodated as a Cabinet minister in his ministry Photo: PTI

In Goa, Pramod Sawant was on Monday unanimously elected the leader of the BJP legislature party, paving the way for him to take over as the chief minister for a second term.

Sawant's name for the top post was cleared at a meeting of the newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders in Panaji in the evening.

The meeting was also attended by BJP central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan, Assembly poll in-charge Devendra Fadnavis and the party's state unit president, Sadanand Shet Tanavade.

“It has been decided that Pramod Sawant would be the leader of the House,” Tomar told reporters after the meeting.

Tomar said MLA Vishwajit Rane proposed Sawant's name as the leader of the BJP legislature party. His proposal was seconded by other MLAs, including Mauvin Godinho and Rohan Khaunte.

Tomar said Sawant's election was unanimous.

He said the party will now stake a claim to form the next government in Goa.

The BJP won 20 seats, just one short of majority in the 40-member Assembly, in the February 14 polls. It has received support from two MLAs of the MGP and three Independent legislators.