Pushkar Singh Dhami takes oath as 11th chief minister of Uttarakhand; Modi, Shah send best wishes

Dehradun: Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the 11th chief minister of Uttarakhand in Dehradun on Sunday.The oath of office was administered to Dhami by Governor Baby Rani Maurya at a simple function held on the lawns of the Raj Bhawan in the presence of a host of MPs, MLAs and functionaries of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and senior government officials.At 45, Dhami takes over as the youngest chief minister of Uttarakhand.A two-time MLA from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district, Dhami replaces Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned on Friday.  Dhami was elected as the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party leader on Saturday.He is considered to be close to Maharashtra Governor and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is also his political mentor.Dhami takes over the reins of power at a time when Uttarakhand has just a few months to go for the Assembly polls, which are due early next year.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and a slew of other politicians congratulated Pushlar.Modi, wishing the team, tweeted:Union home minister Amit Shah sent Pushkar his heartfelt wishes: BJP president JP Nadda expressed confidence that the state will establish new benchmarks in progress and its development will receive new impetus under Dhami's leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance.Defence minister Rajnath Singh also extended his congratulations and best wishes to the new chief minister and his ministerial colleagues.With inputs from PTI