DEHRADUN: Pushkar Singh Dhami, two-time MLA from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar, emerged as the dark horse in the chief ministerial race on Saturday. Giving preference to youth over experience, the BJP named the 45-year-old as the 11th chief minister of Uttarakhand, replacing Tirath Singh Rawat, who was in the saddle for just four months.
Dhami will be the youngest to take over the CM’s chair in the 21-year-old history of the Himalayan state. Sources said that by naming Dhami, the saffron party has tried to strike a balance between two key factors in Uttarakhand politics – the Thakur-Brahmin equation and the Garhwal-Kumaon factor.