Once written off as an also-ran, how Dhami became BJP's poster boy

New Delhi: In about a year, there has been a complete turnaround in the fortunes of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

After suffering a humiliating loss in last year’s Assembly polls in his electoral constituency and almost being written off as an also-ran, Dhami has been able to completely change his perception amongst the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party and emerged as the undisputed leader in the state.

And the cause for change has been a calculated and timely implementation of the saffron agenda on full throttle in the hill state. Over the past few months, Uttarakhand has become the model state when it goes to implement policies considered close at heart to the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.

In his short tenure so far, the Dhami government has initiated several steps including formulation of the Uniform Civil Code draft which is now being considered as a model for the proposed UCC at the Centre ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.  

Other issues that the Dhami government took up successfully were initiating the registration of all madrasas in Uttarakhand, conducting a state-wide survey of Waqf lands to check illegal occupation of revenue land and commencing strict proceedings against land and love jihad.

Sources pointed out that these issues have been flagged by the Uttarakhand CM to maintain the unique character of the state and stop the changing demography from destroying its character. These efforts by Dhami have found a ready support amongst the top leadership of the BJP as well as RSS which have wholeheartedly backed him over these issues.

RSS is the backbone behind the BJP and implementation of issues close to its agenda has been paramount for saffron governments across the country. With Uttarakhand taking a lead in the implementation of their agendas, Dhami’s stature amongst the state leadership has grown immensely over the past few months, sources said.

Sources stated that the move to implement the saffron agenda was taken after coming under direct attack from the coterie of leaders, based in New Delhi, which wanted his removal from the top position months after his swearing-in. 

In fact, till a few months ago, party factions were baying for Dhami's scalp over allegations of corruption, irregularities in government recruitment and complaints were made to the top leadership of the party over his working style.

However, the issue of his undisputed leadership in the state now seems to have been settled after CM Dhami met and briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the implementation of UCC in the state.

This is considered a clear indication that the top saffron leadership is strongly backing the Uttarakhand CM.  

The success with which Dhami has targeted his detractors in this short period has also established his acumen as a politician amongst young and emerging leaders in the saffron camp.

Earlier last year, BJP had secured victory in Uttarakhand Assembly polls winning 47 out of the 70 Assembly seats. Under Dhami's leadership, the party had successfully reversed the state's trend of removing the incumbent government. Though Dhami had himself lost in his constituency, which became the chief cause for detractors in the party to go after him.   

Being a border state, Uttarakhand is an important state in BJP's political strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The state had elected BJP's nominees to all 5 of its Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and it hopes to maintain a similar 100 per cent strike rate in the state in next year’s general elections when PM Modi seeks an unprecedented third term in office.