DEHRADUN: Pushkar Singh Dhami took oath as the chief minister of Uttarakhand for the second term at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of some BJP-ruled states in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Along with Dhami, a total of BJP legislators — Dhan Singh Rawat, Ganesh Joshi, Rekha Arya, Subodh Uniyal, Saurav Bahuguna, Chandan Ram Das, Satpal Maharaj, and Premchand Agarwal – took oath as Cabinet ministers.
Apart from the prime minister, other BJP leaders who were present at the ceremony were: Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Prahlad Joshi; BJP chief JP Nadda, Uttar Pradesh CM-designate Yogi Adityanath; and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Former Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal, a first-time minister, took oath of office in Sanskrit. He has been a legislator from Rishikesh seat for three terms.
43-year-old Rekha Arya is the only woman in the new Cabinet. She won from Someshwar assembly constituency in the recently-held election and was also a minister in the previous government.
Saurabh Bahuguna (43), the son of former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna, is also a first-time minister. He won from Sitarganj assembly constituency.