The BJP on Monday retained Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant as Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Goa respectively for leading the party to victory by overcoming anti-incumbency and factional fighting.
The party reposed faith in Dhami and rewarded him despite his losing the Assembly seat of Khatima in Uttarakhand.
Dhami and Sawant were elected the leader of their State legislature party at meetings which were attended by the Central observers.
Dhami is to take oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Wednesday.
In Manipur, Biren Singh, elected to be Chief Minister of the North-Eastern State a day before, was sworn-in as the second-time Chief Minister on Monday.
The successive victory of the BJP in the North-Eastern State is seen as a major success of the “Look-North-East” policy of the Modi Government since 2014 and its major development thrust in the entire region.
For Government formation in Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is visiting Lucknow on March 23. The BJP legislative party will meet the next day, followed by Yogi’s oath-taking on March 25.
With the finalisation of the CM candidates in Goa and Uttarakhand, the BJP has completed the task of selection of Chief Ministers in the four States where it returned to power in the Assembly polls.
Barring UP where there was no confusion on the name of the next CM, there was considerable confusion about the names of CMs in three other States resulting in days of back-to-back meetings among the top central leaders, including Prime Minister Modi.
“I will live up to the expectations of the people and lead the State on the path of development,” said Dhami after being elected as leader of the legislative party.
In Goa, the second contender for the top post and former Health Minister Vishwajit Rane proposed the name of Sawant as the Leader of the Legislative Party paving the way for him to take over as the Chief Minister for a second term. He will take oath as CM on March 23.
“I am glad that the people of Goa have accepted me. I’ll do everything possible to work for the development of the State,” said Sawant.
Sawant, 48, has been a protégé of late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The meeting of the newly-elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders was also attended by BJP central observers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan, Assembly poll in-charge Devendra Fadnavis, and the party’s State unit president, Sadanand Shet Tanavade.
“It has been decided that Sawant would be the leader of the House,” Tomar told reporters after the meeting in Panjim.
The BJP won 20 seats, just one short of the majority in the 40-member Assembly, in the February 14 polls. It has received support from two MLAs of the MGP and three Independent legislators. Congress had won only 11 seats.
The BJP legislative party meeting to elect the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand began around 5 pm and was attended by BJP’s central observers for Uttarakhand Rajnath Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi, and the party’s poll in charge for the State, Pralhad Joshi.
Dhami,46, under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 Assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post even as many other contenders had emerged in last week. IT took several rounds of meetings of central leaders, including Union Home Minister Shah with the State leaders to settle the leadership issue in Uttarakhand where two CMs had been changed before the baton was handed over to Dhami to lead the BJP to 2022 polls.
The BJP won 47 of the 70 seats in the Assembly polls while the Congress which fell far short of organizing itself in the State against the ruling party could win only 19 seats with the BSP winning two and independent also two.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated Manipur Chief Minister for assuming the charge for a second straight term.
“Congratulations to Shri @NBirenSingh Ji on being sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Manipur. I am confident his team and he would take Manipur to newer heights of progress and continue the good work done in the last five years,” Modi tweeted.
On his behalf, Singh said, “Under the leadership of the Prime Minister I will fulfill the aspirations of the people”.
The BJP stormed back to power with a majority, 32 seats in the recently held Assembly polls.
Governor La Ganesan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Singh, who was elected from Heingang assembly constituency in the recently concluded 12th Manipur Assembly elections,
Five MLAs, four from the BJP and one from the Naga People’s Front (NPF), were sworn in as members of the council of Ministers.
Singh began his career as a footballer and got recruited in the Border Security Force playing for its team. He resigned from the BSF and began the vernacular daily Naharolgi Thoudang in 1992 and worked as its editor till 2001
BJP national president J P Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland Yanthungo Patton, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh, newly elected MLAs of the BJP, the Janata Dal (United), the Congress, the NPF, the Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) and the top officials of the State were also present during Monday’s swearing-in ceremony held for the first time after three decades at the lawn of the Raj Bhavan in Imphal