Dhami stakes claim to form govt in Uttarakhand

New Delhi/Dehradun, March 21 (IANS) Uttarakhand's Chief Minister-designate Pushkar Singh Dhami met Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh on Monday evening to officially stake claim to form the new government in the state.

Sources said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new government is likely to be held on March 23-24.

Earlier, Dhami was elected as the leader of BJP's legislative party at a meeting in Dehradun, held in the presence of central observers Rajnath Singh and Meenkshi Lekhi.

BJP's Uttarakhand election in-charge Pralhad Joshi, state in-charge and national General Secretary Dushyant Gautam and MPs from the state also attended the meeting.

Congratulating Dhami after the legislative party meeting, Rajnath Singh said that all-round development of Uttarakhand will happen under him.

"Dhami left an impression by running the government for six months," he said.

The BJP recently created history by becoming the only party to retain power for a second consecutive term in the state since its formation. The saffron party won 47 in the 70-member state Assembly, although Dhami lost from Khatima.

Speculation had started over Dhami's future after his defeat, but the BJP leadership has given him the responsibility to run the government for a full term.

Last year on July 4, Dhami was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, replacing Tirath Singh Rawat, who quit as he could not get elected to the Assembly within the required time period, after succeeding Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Dhami had worked in different positions in RSS' students wing ABVP for many years. He also served as the President of BJP's youth wing in Uttarakhand for two terms. He became an MLA from Khatima twice, but lost the election this time.