Colonel Ajay Kothiyal (Retd.) will be the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) chief ministerial candidate for the Uttarakhand Assembly election scheduled to be held in 2022, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said during his visit to the hill State on Tuesday.

The AAP convener Kejriwal, said that his party will develop Uttarakhand as the spiritual capital for Hindus living across the globe. “The AAP will also generate employment for the youth if voted to power,” Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said the decision to pick Kothiyal as the party's CM face was based on the feedback received from the people who were fed up with politicians helming the State.

“People here want a break from politicians who have only looted the State. They now want an Army man as the CM, who will not spend his tenure filling up his coffers but serve them,” he said at a public rally in the hill town.

The Chief Minister said when politicians were busy looting the people of Uttarakhand, Kothiyal was facing bullets on the border to protect this country.

Addressing the people of Uttarakhand, Kothiyal asked them to give six months to the AAP.

 “If we do not work and walk on the right path of development then we won’t come to ask for votes again,” he added.

Promising locals that the party would generate employment by boosting tourism as the largest part of the Himalayas is in Uttarakhand, Kothiyal said, “There are many shrines and temples here. People come here to seek peace. If Uttarakhand becomes the spiritual capital of Hindus across the world, it will make a big difference to its economy and employment potential.”