Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), on Saturday, named Pushkar Singh Dhami as the next Uttarakhand Chief Minister. This comes after Tirath Singh Rawat handed his resignation to the state governor on Friday night. Reportedly this was done to avert a potential constitutional crisis that would have occurred if he continued as CM till September 10.

Soon after the announcement, Dhami met Governor Baby Rani Maurya at her residence in Dehradun.

Expressing elation on the appointment, Dhami’s wife Geeta said: “I want to thank the party’s high command, PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and JP Nadda, & the people of the Khatima constituency. He came from a middle-class family & is aware of the problems of people.”

“I’m very happy but feeling a little sad that his father is not with us to see him (Pushkar Singh Dhami) as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He worked very hard for this,” ANI quoted Dhami’s Mother Vishna Devi.

The announcement also prompted celebrations at his home and constituency. See pictures here.

An advocate by profession, Dhami also holds a degree in management. From 1990 to 1999, he was involved with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, BJP’s student wing, where he reportedly held various roles, including that of an organiser of the Parishad’s National Conference in Lucknow during the time.

The soon-to-be 11th CM of Uttarakhand, Dhami worked in the Urban Development Monitoring Council under the erstwhile IJP Government from 2010-2012.

Rawat served as a chief minister for four months. He resigned because he is not a member of the Uttarakhand legislature and is unlikely to become one by September 10 when the six-month deadline since his swearing-in ends.

The Uttarakhand BJP legislature party met Saturday to elect its new leader. The meet was attended by Union Minister and the party’s central observer Narendra Singh Tomar.