Greenhorn Dhami’s crown of thorns in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand got its third chief minister in four months with two-term legislator Pushkar Singh Dhami occupying the hot seat replacing Tirath Singh Rawat. At 45, age is on Dhami’s side as he begins with a clean slate. Ironically, that’s where his problems begin, since he has no ministerial experience. Leading a team of ambitious netas to run a ministry that is on its last legs is like swimming in piranha-infested waters. The closest he was to the seat of power earlier was as an OSD to Bhagat Singh Koshiyari during his stint as chief minister. Now, Dhami’s every nuance will be under the microscope as he hits the road running to repair the badly mauled image of the party that has never retained power in successive elections in the state.

Dhami can perhaps take inspiration from Yogi Adityanath in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, who was a ministerial greenhorn when he took over as CM, but consolidated his position quickly. Whatever the Yogi’s downside, he is a self-made politician with the guts to stand up to bullying, making himself the third most powerful leader in the national BJP. As for the Uttarakhand unit of the BJP, it has so far been unable to produce leaders of substance who can transcend intra-party factions and inspire confidence. The Maha Kumbh Covid mess is of recent vintage, which happened under the watch of Tirath Singh. But the party government led by his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat was already going downhill, which was why the Lok Sabha MP was given the leadership mantle on March 10. Tirath Singh took it up not knowing he had the impossible task of getting elected to the Assembly in 13 days, by March 23, to escape the disqualification clause of not holding the seat for at least one year. For, the term of the current Assembly ends on March 23 next year. How the party, with its battery of legal eagles and a helpful Election Commission, missed the point boggles the mind.

As for Dhami, if he even partially restores people’s faith despite his predecessors’ non-performance and puts up a decent show in the state polls, he could emerge as the redeemer. Else, the dustbin of history would not be far away.