Victory in defeat, but challenges for Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami

Among the happiest persons after Pushkar Singh Dhami became Uttarakhand chief minister for the second consecutive time, undoubtedly, was his political guru and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

But the impact of the jugalbandi on government formation was evident. For example, no questions were asked when the BJP MLA from Bageshwar, Chandan Ramdas, got his first cabinet berth. Most of the state BJP leaders know that Ramdas used to be a Koshiyari protégé. For the same reason, Rekha Arya retained her office.

Before his exit from BJP politics in the hill state, Koshiyari used to be a dominant force here. It was largely due to Koshiyari’s blessings that Dhami got the BJP ticket in 2012 from Khatima. Dhami again won from this seat in 2017.

One reason why Dhami lost this time from Khatima was said to be Koshiyari’s absence from the state. “When Koshiyari was here, Dhami won in 2012 and 2017. But since Koshiyari is not active now, Dhami paid a price,” said a top BJP leader.

However, there are other reasons also: Agitation by farmers on the farm Bills and unbridled factionalism in the state unit of the BJP. Dhami’s one challenge will be to unite all the factions, said political observers.

Interestingly, Koshiyari had failed where Dhami has succeeded. When Koshiyari was chief minister, he won from Kapkot in Bageshwar district in the 2002 Assembly elections, which the BJP lost to the Congress. Thus, Koshiyari’s dream of getting a second consecutive stint as chief minister was shattered. But despite losing, Dhami managed to secure his second term. This is the first time in the state that a chief minister has got a second consecutive term, which even top leaders like N D Tiwari, B C Khanduri, and Harish Rawat couldn’t achieve.

The BJP brass made the  swearing-in of Dhami into a big show in Dehradun on Wednesday, with the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, and other top leaders. The prime minister has assured Dhami of all help from the Central government in the development process. Dhami’s immediate task is to prepare a road map and complete the lingering projects like the all-weather Chardham highways and the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Though Dehradun district gave BJP eight seats of the nine, two major projects — smart city and the rejuvenation of the Rispana and Bindal rivers — are in the doldrums. Trivendra Singh Rawat as chief minister tried his best to launch the river rejuvenation projects in Dehradun but failed despite planting around 300,000 trees along the river Rispana.

“Where are all those trees that were planted along the Rispana river? If we want results, we must implement the project in an earnest manner,” said Harshpati Uniyal, former director of the State Planning Commission.

One of the major challenges before Dhami is to implement the party’s election manifesto, in which the BJP promised to bring all the major sectors into the single-window system. “There should be one approval so that industry faces no difficulty in investment,” said Pankaj Gupta, president of the Industrial Association of Uttarakhand (IAU).

Industrial growth has failed to pick up momentum mainly because of Covid. Though a couple of existing units like Parle and La Opala in Sitarganj have gone for major expansions with investments of Rs 100-200 crore, no significant growth has been noticed.

“The main aim of the chief minister should be to focus on augmenting the state’s resources, mainly in industry, forests, and mining,” said Gupta. “Mining is one sector in which the government can earn big revenue provided it keeps it transparent and extract materials scientifically.”

Social activist Anil Joshi said Dhami should focus on the hills of Uttarakhand and take steps to improve the economy and ecology there. “The state was created mainly for removing the backwardness of the hills.”

Who will vacate the Assembly seat for Dhami? Bishan Singh Chuphal, who was not given a cabinet berth this time, has refused to opt out of his Didihaat seat.

“We will explore all options so that the chief minister enters the Vidhan Sabha within the stipulated six-month period,” said Manveer Chauhan, in charge of the media in the state BJP.