It was a sultry day on July 3, 2021, and the political temperature in the hill State of Uttarakhand was equally hot as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to announce a new Chief Minister, third one in the past four months. Names of bigwigs were making rounds in the political corridors and channel rooms as it was being anticipated that the saffron party would choose a popular figure for a stable government in the politically unstable State. But the party high command in Delhi followed its precedent of throwing surprises and chose the then 45-year-old Khatima MLA, Pushkar Singh Dhami, for the top job.

Equally surprised by the announcement like others, Mr. Dhami termed himself mukhya sevak (chief servant) as he expressed gratitude to the party leadership for nurturing him as a politician and electing ‘a two-time MLA’ as the youngest CM of the State. Ever since, his rise has been steady.

Last week, under Mr. Dhami’s leadership, Uttarakhand became the first Indian State to roll out the controversial uniform civil code, almost a year after the State assembly passed the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, 2024.

Born on September 15, 1975 in a remote village in Pithoragarh district of the undivided Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Dhami became the first in the family to complete post-graduation. He finished a law degree in Lucknow University, followed by a PG in human resource management and a PG diploma in public administration. He started going to the Shakha of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) while being a student at the university.

In Lucknow, Mr. Dhami met Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the second Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, who lastly served as the Governor of Maharashtra. The two shared the same caste, Thakur, and hailed from the Kumaon region of present-day Uttarakhand. Mr Koshiyari told The Hindu that he, in the very first meeting, saw a ‘leader’ in Mr. Dhami’s personality who had joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP, the student wing of the RSS) in the early 1990s. BJP insiders call Mr. Koshiyari the political guru of Mr. Dhami, but the former CM humbly denies the same.

Path to power

Between 2002 and 2012, Mr. Dhami worked for the party in the back-end, and patiently waited for the right opportunity to come to the forefront. BJP leaders who are in the current Cabinet of Mr. Dhami had denied him a ticket in 2007, says a party insider. The party, however, made him president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM, the youth wing of the BJP) for two terms from 2002 to 2008.

It was in 2012 that Mr. Dhami became an MLA for the first time, from the Khatima constituency. Ever since, he has remained one of the 70 lawmakers in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

After he was chosen as the Chief Minister, Mr. Dhami knew that the journey ahead would not be smooth as his predecessors failed to finish their tenures for various reasons, including the resentment of the party cadre and legislators. Known for adapting to the ‘good qualities’ of the seniors, Mr. Dhami became another N.D. Tiwari (the third CM of Uttarakhand) who was famous for “meeting and greeting” both the party and opposition leaders, says a BJP functionary.

His people-friendly approach earned him admirers and supporters and strengthened his position in Delhi. In the 2022 elections, even after Mr. Dhami lost his own constituency, he kept the Chief Minister’s post, becoming the first leader in the history of the hill State to get two consecutive terms. Later, he contested and won from Champawat.

In his tenure of over three-and-a-half years, he brought stringent laws such as anti-cheating law, Uttarakhand Public and Private Property Damage Recovery (Ordinance) Act and now the much talked-about Uniform Civil Code. Mr. Dhami says its just a start and he will continue walking down the path shown by the party, which has “fulfilled” its promises of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir, among others.

Dehradun:

The Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual during a meeting at the state secretariat on Monday, with the dates for its implementation to be announced soon.

The Cabinet approved the manual after making partial amendments to the rules recently prepared for implementing the UCC. The amended rules, examined by the Law Department, were discussed and finalised during the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Addressing the media post-meeting, Chief Minister Dhami emphasised the government’s commitment to fulfilling its electoral promise.

“We had promised the people of Uttarakhand during the 2022 elections that the UCC will be implemented as soon as our government is formed. We brought it, the draft committee drafted it and it was passed. The President then approved it and it became an Act. The process of training is also almost complete,” Mr Dhami stated.

He further noted the significance of Uttarakhand becoming the first state in India to implement the UCC, saying, “We have completed analysing it and discussed it in the Cabinet today. The dates will be announced soon. Since we are setting a precedent, it is essential to thoroughly examine and prepare for its implementation.”

The UCC will create a unified legal framework for all religious communities in areas such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance. While India has a uniform criminal code, a similar civil law framework does not currently exist.

The law explicitly excludes tribal communities and bans practices like ‘halala’, ‘iddat’, and ‘talaq’, which are part of the Muslim Personal Law.

The UCC, comprising 392 Sections under seven schedules, is based on a detailed 750-page draft spread across four volumes. This draft was prepared by a five-member expert committee formed in June 2022 to examine the introduction of the law in Uttarakhand.

The committee, led by Retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted its draft to the state government on February 2, 2024.

The draft was passed by the State Cabinet on February 4, followed by the Assembly during a special session.

It received the approval of Uttarakhand Governor Lt. Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) on February 28, making it a landmark legislation in Indian legal history.

Mangled remains of the car after it got hit by a container, in Dehradun on Tuesday. At least six people were killed and one other was injured in the accident.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Six students were killed and another was seriously injured when their car collided with a truck here in the early hours of Tuesday (November 12, 2024), police said.

The collision, which reduced the car to a mangled wreck, occurred around 1:30 a.m. at the ONGC Chowk. The car rammed into the truck from behind and the six died on the spot, Circle Officer (City) Neeraj Semwal said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who was on a visit to Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag, expressed grief at the loss of lives in the accident.

“The news of the death of six youths in a road accident in Dehradun is extremely heart-rending. I pray to God to grant the departed souls a place at his sacred feet and give strength to the bereaved families to bear the immense pain,” he said.

The deceased students were identified as Kunal Kukreja (23), Atul Agrawal (24), Rishabh Jain (24), Navya Goel (23), Kamakshi (20), and Guneet (19). All of them were from Uttarakhand’s Dehradun except Kukreja who hails from Himachal Pradesh.

The seventh occupant— Siddhesh Agrawal (25)— has been admitted to the Synergy Hospital in the city and is in a critical condition, he said.

It was not immediately clear which institution the students belonged to and where were the coming from late at night.

Mr. Semwal said the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, and they are examining CCTV footage from the area.

Dehradun:

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday said the state government will make the ‘nine requests’ made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people and tourists of the state on Uttarakhand Foundation Day the basis of development.

The chief minister said Prime Minister Modi has shown his affection towards Uttarakhand by expressing concern over the state’s dialect, preservation of languages ​​as well as migration.

The state government will move forward by considering the prime minister’s ‘nine requests’ as the basic mantra of development, he added, according to a statement issued here.

In his video message on Saturday on the occasion of Uttarakhand entering its Silver Jubilee year, Prime Minister Modi had made five appeals to people of the state and four appeals to the tourists and pilgrims visiting the state.

He urged the people of Uttarakhand to teach dialects like Garhwali, Kumauni and Jaunsari etc. to their future generations for their identity, plant ‘one tree in the name of mother’ to protect the environment and reduce the impact of climate change, speed up the water cleanliness campaign by conserving their water sources, keep visiting the villages and convert their old houses into ‘home stays’ and make them a source of income.

Prime Minister Modi also appealed to the tourists visiting Uttarakhand to avoid single-use plastic in the Himalayas, spend at least five per cent of their travel expenses on purchasing local products under ‘Vocal for Local’ while visiting the mountains, follow traffic rules and respect the decorum of the pilgrimage sites.

The chief minister said that his government would make Prime Minister Modi’s requests the basis of its policies and will work on all of them with public support. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Committee formulating rules for the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand has finished its discussions and will submit its suggestions in the form of a booklet to the Chief Minister. If accepted, Uniform Civil Code could be in place in the state before November 9.
The Uttarakhand Assembly had passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill in February. On March 13, the bill was signed off by President Droupadi Murmu, making it possible for the state to become the first in the country to implement it. 

Last month, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had said the state government will implement the Uniform Civil Code before November 9, which is the Foundation Day of Uttarakhand. 

Implementation of the Uniform Civil Code will subject all the citizens of the country – irrespective of religion — to a common set of rules for marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and other personal matters. 

It would lay down a common and higher marriageable age for girls, give Muslim women adoption rights, ban practices such as halala and iddat (Islamic practices a woman must go through after a divorce or the death of the husband), promote the declaration of live-in relationships, and simplify adoption procedures.

The bill excludes population control measures and the Scheduled Tribes, constituting 3 per cent of Uttarakhand’s population.

A government-appointed panel, led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, had drafted a four-volume, 749-page report containing several recommendations. 

The panel collected 2.33 lakh pieces of written feedback online and organised more than 70 public forums. During these meetings, panel members engaged with roughly 60,000 people to help develop the draft.

Other BJP-ruled states also hope to implement the civil code. Rajasthan has said it wants to introduce a UCC bill in the next assembly session.

New Delhi:

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s move to appoint a controversial IFS officer as the director of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, disregarding the opinions of the state’s forest minister and others, has drawn strong reprimand from the Supreme Court. Heads of governments cannot be expected to be “old days’ kings” and “we are not in a feudal era”, said the Bench of Justices BR Gavai, PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan.

The state government, however, told the bench that the appointment order was withdrawn on September 3.

“There is something like a public trust doctrine in this country. The heads of the executive cannot be expected to be old days’ kings that whatever they have said, they will do… We are not in a feudal era… Just because he is the chief minister, can he do anything?” the judges said.

The bench also questioned why the Chief Minister has “special affection” for the officer, observing that a departmental proceeding is pending against him.

Senior Indian Forest Service officer Rahul has disciplinary proceedings pending against him. Senior advocate ANS Nadkarni, who represented the state, said the officer is being targeted.

Pointing out that the noting had said the officer should not be posted at the Rajaji Tiger Reserve, the court said the chief minister “just ignores it”.

The appointment of Indian Forest Service officer Rahul, a former director of the Corbett Tiger Reserve, as the director of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve was severely discouraged by senior officers.

The court observed that there was a specific noting from the first officer. This was endorsed by the deputy secretary, the principal secretary and the state’s forest minister.

“If you disagree right from the desk officer, the deputy secretary, the principal secretary, the minister, then the least that is expected is that there is some application of mind as to why he is disagreeing with the proposal,” it said.

“You cannot sacrifice a good officer against whom there is nothing,” Mr Nadkarni had argued. “If there is nothing, then why are you holding departmental proceedings against him?” the court asked. Unless there is some prima facie material, departmental proceedings are not initiated against anyone, the judges added.

“The state agitators have contributed a lot to the formation of Uttarakhand state, so to secure their rights, they should get 10% horizontal reservation,” Uttarakhand CM said. File
| Photo Credit: ANI / Pushkar singh Dhami – X

The statehood agitators and their dependents met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday (August 19, 2024) and expressed gratitude for the passage of the bill providing 10% reservation in government jobs.

The state agitators visited the Chief Minister in Uttarakhand’s Khatima on Monday (August 19, 2024). On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that the State Government is continuously working to fulfil every resolution taken in the public interest. “In this direction, we have fulfilled our promise made to the State Agitators,” CM Dhami said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister congratulated the state agitators on the passage of the bill and said, “The state agitators have contributed a lot to the formation of Uttarakhand state, so to secure their rights, they should get 10% horizontal reservation, for this, a bill was brought in the assembly and passed. The government does what it says. I congratulate all the agitators and their dependents on the passage of the bill.”

The Chief Minister said that the state government can never forget the struggle and sacrifice of the state agitators. The bill providing 10% reservation in government jobs for statehood agitators in Uttarakhand was approved by Governor Lieutenant General Gurmeet Singh (Retd) on August 18. This has been a long pending demand of the state agitators.

Dehradun:

An FIR has been lodged against BJP MLA Mahesh Jeena and four unidentified people for allegedly misbehaving with Dehradun Municipal Commissioner Gaurav Kumar and threatening him recently. The alleged incident had led to a strike by municipal corporation employees in the town.

Mr Jeena, who represents the Salt assembly seat in Almora, has been booked at the Kotwali police station under sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also directed Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey to conduct a probe into the alleged incident and submit his report to the government in 15 days.

The IAS association of Uttarakhand on Thursday issued a statement condemning the alleged incident. It alleged that the MLA, with four of his aides, created a ruckus at the municipal corporation office in Dehradun on March 5 over the allocation of a tender.

He allegedly abused and threatened a senior clerk in the office and a contractor. When the matter was conveyed to the commissioner, the MLA allegedly also abused the commissioner and other officials, the statement said. A purported video of the incident has gone viral, in which the MLA can be seen arguing angrily with the municipal commissioner.

However, the MLA denied the allegations saying he had not abused the municipal commissioner.

Mr Jeena said he had asked the corporation employees to show documents on whose basis a Haryana-based company was not allowed to take part in the tender process. The officials did not provide the documents and misbehaved with him, he said.

The strike by municipal corporation employees was withdrawn after the lodging of the FIR and the probe order against the MLA Sonika.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)