Uttarakhand BJP prez backs Dhami as CM face for 2027 poll, rules out change

Scuttling rumours of leadership change in the state, Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt on Friday asserted that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami would be the face of 2027 Assembly election.

Bhatt said Dhami has won the trust of the people with his decisions in his tenure of more than four years (including six months of the previous tenure) and the party's central leadership knows that political instability affects development.

"The cabinet will be expanded by Diwali The assembly elections of 2027 will be 100 per cent under the leadership of Dhami ji and BJP will make a hat-trick of victory," Bhatt said in an exclusive conversation with PTI Bhasha here.

He claimed that after Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Dhami would be the first chief minister of Uttarakhand to complete his five-year term.

Bhatt said that the introduction of Uniform Civil Code, anti-forced conversion law, strict enforcement of land law and anti-copying law, horizontal reservation to women, and promotion of religious pilgrimages has won Dhami the favour of the people.

He said that many people want instability and it is they who started the rumours of change of leadership. "This time this atmosphere has been shattered badly and the plans of those who wanted instability have been thwarted."  Asked about murmurs of dissent from the party MLAs over the government's handling of the mining issue, and several others, Bhatt said the party has 47 MLAs and eight MPs and it was normal to have few differences of opinion.

"We are a big family but all the leaders have been instructed to keep their views within the family only. They have been clearly told to tell me about the organisational matters and raise government related matters before the chief minister," he said.

As rumours about Dhami's deposition grew strong, police were forced to issue a statement saying that the chief minister was busy dealing with the natural disasters, and warned against spreading misinformation.

Three Facebook page operators were also arrested in connection with the matter by Dehradun police.

On five ministerial posts vacant for a long time, Bhatt said the party's central had been apprised of it.

"The chief minister has started efforts in this direction. The cabinet will be expanded by Diwali," he said.

Bhatt, a Rajya Sabha MP, also said he has been announced the party's state president and in the next two-four days, he will announce his team.

On pending promises, he said, "Now there are not many big issues left, but whatever is left, they will also be completed in a year or a year and a half."  He added, "We are moving towards the goal of a developed country in 2047, so we would like Uttarakhand to be the first state to become a developed state in the country.