Newly appointed Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him about the ongoing pandemic situation and preparedness for Assembly polls, early next year.
In the backdrop of two Uttarakhand Chief Ministers losing their jobs and handling of Covid-19 being a dominant factor during and after the ‘kumbh’ religious gathering at Hardwar the new Chief Minister is taking no chances and seeking to crack the whip in the state.
The State has made it mandatory for tourists entering the state to carry covid negative test report with them. This followed tourists openly flouting Covid19 protocol in cities like Mussoorie, Hardwar and Nainital.
In Hardwar thousands of devotees were seen bathing and praying along Ganga river this week throwing caution to wind, a recipe for a potential third Covid19 wave. The scenes of thousands cramping around the ‘Kempty fall’ at Musoorie without face-masks or maintaining social distancing too have been very disturbing.
The state government has now capped 50 percent occupancy limit for hotels in the state to restrain the tourist flow.
In the nearly 40-minute meeting with the Prime Minister at his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence, sources said the Uttarakhand Chief Minister informed him about the preparedness to deal with the possible third wave of Covid-19 and the procedures being taken to enhance vaccination in the state to contain the spread of the disease.
He also briefed Modi about the party’s preparedness about assembly polls vis-a-vis the main rival Congress.
It was the first formal meeting of Dhami with the Prime Minister after he took over the charge of Uttarakhand Chief Minister.
Aware of the Prime Minister’s warning to not to let down the guard against the pandemic and recent dropping of 12 cabinet ministers, the young Chief Minister directed the state departments concerned to ensure all Covid19-related arrangements by the end of July to counter the anticipated third wave.
Besides the Prime Minister, Dhami is slated to meet party President J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other top BJP leaders.
Dhami has a tough task of limiting factional infighting in the state BJP and beating anti-incumbency in the run-up to the assembly polls which are seven months away.
Two-time MLA from Khatima constituency in Udham Singh Nagar district, 45-year-old Dhami took over on July 4 as Uttarakhand’s new Chief Minister. He replaced Tirath Singh Rawat, who last week submitted his resignation to the Governor.
Dhami is the third Chief Minister of the state in nearly four months.