Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has achieved a major milestone by completing five years in office. Earlier, only the late ND Tiwari could manage this feat. Being relatively young, Dhami has the potential to notch up several more years as CM. His unassuming, smiling demeanor and soft-spoken approach have many years of political practice behind them. He has been mentored by former Governor and CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari through the early formative years, and this is visible in the humble approach common to both.
Politics in Uttarakhand has been rough since the state’s creation. While the people are concerned about issues specific to the state, there is an inherent nationalistic approach. This is why, despite the statehood movement having been led largely by the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, it is the two national parties that have dominated politics – taking turns to run the state. In the earlier stage, the BSP, SP and UKD did influence politics in parts of the state, but have been marginalised over the years. While the internal politics of the Congress has not permitted the emergence of a statewide accepted leader, the ideological stability of the BJP and its internal discipline have allowed Dhami to remain in office without any significant internal opposition.
Even with this comparative stability, Dhami was required to provide leadership more suitable to the present stage of Uttarakhand’s development. He has surprised observers with his approach, which required successful implementation to keep his government relevant. The initiatives taken by him are many, some quite out of the box. These are listed quite visibly, these days, on billboards, posters and advertisements across the state.
Primarily, the action taken, according to experts, has been on three fronts – governance, infrastructure and socio-religious reforms. Every speech made by government ministers contains mention of the UCC, the Anti-Copying Law, Anti-Conversion and Anti-Riot Laws, Women’s Empowerment measures, and Infrastructure and Connectivity expansion – so much necessary in a hill state. A reformative approach has also been adopted on economic and industrial growth.
As much of this is in line with BJP ideology and the Modi approach, Dhami could be described as deftly riding the tide. However, the essence of his governance came to light during the recent ‘crisis’ involving Nihangs. In a scenario where he could have easily adopted a ‘populist’ hard stance, he rose above the emotional turmoil and, in a mature and responsible fashion, ensured that the demands of all parties concerned were dealt with in a just and satisfactory manner. This has opened the eyes of many. It shows that there is more to Dhami than meets the eye. With elections around the corner, it certainly bodes well for the BJP’s prospects.
