List Of Chief Ministers Of Uttarakhand: Uttarakhand, known for its picturesque landscapes and cultural richness, has seen significant progress and development under the leadership of its Chief Minister. In this blog article, we will delve into the role and responsibilities of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and explore their contributions to transforming the state. We will also highlight key achievements, challenges, and prospects that define the governance of this eminent leader.
Uttarakhand, often referred to as the “Land of the Gods,” is a North Indian state nestled amidst the majestic Himalayas. Established on 9th November 2000 as the 27th state of the Indian Union separating from the northern part of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand holds a unique position in India’s cultural and geographical tapestry. With an area spanning 53,483 square kilometres and a population of over 1 crore, this enchanting region is renowned for its breathtaking landscapes, vibrant culture, and spiritual significance.
This region has been mentioned as Uttarakhand in traditional Hindu texts and ancient literature. In Hindi and Sanskrit, Uttarakhand means the northern region or part. Gangotri and Yamunotri, the origin of the Ganga and Yamuna, the holiest of Hinduism and India’s largest rivers, respectively, and many important pilgrimage centres of Vedic culture situated on their banks are located in the state.
Tibet borders Uttarakhand in the north and Nepal in the east. It is bordered by Himachal Pradesh in the west and Uttar Pradesh in the south. Before its formation in 2000, it was a part of Uttar Pradesh. Uttarakhand is also known as Dev Bhoomi, and you know the answer very well because during the Vedic period, many small republics known as Janapadas existed in this region. This is the only state where Panch Prayag, Panch Kedar, and Panch Badri are situated. Every crore of devotees come to this state and visit these places of pilgrimage.
List of Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand
You must be aware that in November 2000, three new states were formed, which include Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The state of Uttarakhand was earlier a part of Uttar Pradesh. But it was separated from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was established on 09 November 2000. At that time it was named Uttaranchal, and from 2000 to 2006 it was known as Uttaranchal. From January 1, 2007, the official name of the state was changed to Uttarakhand keeping in view the sentiments of the local people.
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand is the head of government of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. According to the Constitution of India, the Governor is the legal head of a state, but the actual executive authority rests with the Chief Minister. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the state’s governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers is collectively responsible to the assembly. Given the confidence of the Legislative Assembly, the term of the Chief Minister is for five years and is not subject to any term limit.
Like other states of India, the head of the state of Uttarakhand is the Governor, who is appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Central Government. The post of Governor is only ceremonial. The Chief Minister is the head of the state government and has most of the executive powers. Dehradun is the state capital, where the state assembly and secretariat are located. The Uttarakhand High Court is located at Nainital and has jurisdiction over the entire state of Uttarakhand. The present unicameral Legislative Assembly of Uttarakhand has 70 members who are called MLAs. The tenure of the government is five years or else the government can be dissolved even before five years. Ten people have served as chief ministers of the state since its formation on 9 November 2000. Seven of them, including the inaugural office-bearer Nityanand Swamy and the outgoing Pushkar Singh Dhami, represented the (BJP), while the rest represented the Indian National Congress.
Uttarakhand was declared a separate state in 2000 along with 2 others – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand. The state is famous for its natural environment owing to the Himalayas, Bhabar and Terai regions and religious places. Take a look at the list of Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand in chronological order.
Shri Nityananda Swami (9 November 2000- 29 October 2001): First Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
Nityananda Swami is the former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand state of India. The name of Uttarakhand was Uttaranchal during his reign. Sri Nityananda Swami was the first Chief Minister of the state and his reign lasted from 9 November 2000 to 29 October 2001. He was born on December 27, 1927, in the state of Haryana, but spent most of his life in Dehradun where his father was working at the Indian Institute of Forestry. He is married to Chandrakanta Swamy and has four daughters. At an early age, he joined the Indian freedom struggle through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and participated in local protests in Dehradun.
He is a lawyer by profession and entered active politics by joining Jana Sangh. A lawyer by profession, Swamy entered active politics under the Jana Sangh. Nithyananda first went to the Indian National Congress and later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Climbing the political ladder, he was elected to the Legislative Council from the largest (region-wise) graduate constituency in Garhwal and Kumaon. He became the Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1991 and was unanimously elected its Speaker in 1992. After the formation of a separate state of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) in 2000, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked him to take over as the chief minister of the new state. but voluntarily resigned in favour of Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari (30 October 2001-1 March 2002)
Bhagat Singh Koshyari is a familiar name in Indian politics from North India, he is the current Governor of Maharashtra. He is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been the second Chief Minister of the state of Uttarakhand and the top leader of the opposition (BJP) in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2007. On 31 August 2019, Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari was made the Governor of Maharashtra. He is the 19th and present Governor of Goa with additional charge.
He is an RSS veteran and has served as the national vice president of the BJP and the party’s first state president for Uttarakhand. Bhagat Singh Koshyari was born on 17 June 1942 in a village in Kapkot block of Bageshwar district of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. He completed his early education in Almora and after that, he obtained the title of Acharya in English Literature from Agra University. Koshyariji’s political life started during his teaching period. He dedicated his life to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his teaching period. Between 2005-2007, he was the Uttarakhand state chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party. At that time Matbar Singh Kandari was the leader of the opposition.
After the defeat of the BJP in the 2002 assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Koshyari held the position of Leader of the Opposition in the assembly from 2002 to 2007. After this, he took over the responsibility of the state president of the BJP from 2007 to 2009, during which BJP returned to power in Uttarakhand in 2007. But the party did not make him the chief minister. After this, he was elected a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand from 2008 to 2014. In 2014, the BJP fielded him from the Nainital parliamentary seat and he won and was elected a Lok Sabha member for the first time, but in 2019 the party did not give him a ticket. Due to the closeness of Bhagat Singh Koshyari to the RSS, the Modi government has entrusted him with the responsibility of the Governor of Maharashtra.
Shri Narayan Datt Tiwari (2 March 2002-7 March 2007)
Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari was the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (then Uttaranchal). He was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress.
He served three times as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (1976–77, 1984–85, 1988–89) and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (2002–07). Between 1986 and 1988, he also served in Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet, first as Minister of External Affairs and then as Minister of Finance. He also served as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2007 to 2009.
Narayan Dutt Tiwari was born in 1925 in Baluti village of Nainital district. Uttar Pradesh was not formed then, after the formation of Uttar Pradesh in 1950 and in the first assembly elections of the state in 1951-52, Tiwari participated as a Praja Samajwadi Party candidate from Nainital (North) seat. He won the election despite the Congress bias and reached the house as a member of the first assembly. It is very interesting that Tiwari, who later joined the Congress, started with the Socialist Party. In the 431-member assembly then, 20 people from the Socialist Party were elected.
Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice. He is the only politician who has been the Chief Minister of two states. After the division of Uttar Pradesh, he also became the Chief Minister of Uttaranchal. He is also remembered as a Union Minister.
In 1954, he married Sushila (née Sanwal), and she died in 1991. Senior Congress leader Narayan Dutt Tiwari was in for a big shock today when the DNA report on his blood sample was made public in the Delhi High Court according to that report Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, who filed the paternity suit, is the son of ND Tiwari.
Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, 32, living in Delhi, claims that ND Tiwari is his biological father and to prove this claim, Rohit and his mother Ujjwala Tiwari filed a case against ND Tiwari in the court 4 years ago i.e. in 2008. A paternity case was filed. On 14 May 2014, at the age of 88, he married Ujjwala Tiwari, the mother of his biological son Rohit Shekhar.
Former Governor and the only former Chief Minister of two states, Narayan Dutt Tiwari breathed his last on 18 October 2018 at 2.50 pm at Max Hospital in Saket, capital Delhi after a prolonged illness.
Major General BC Khanduri: (7 March 2007-26 June 2009 and 11 September 2011-13 March 2012)
Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri who was succeeded by Major General (Retd) B. Also known as C. Khanduri (born 1 October 1934). He was the Chief Minister of the state of Uttarakhand from 8 March 2007 to 27 June 2009. On September 11, 2011, after the resignation of the then Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, he returned as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
Shri Khanduri was born in Dehradun (Uttarakhand) in 1934 and educated at Allahabad University, College of Military Engineering (CME) Pune, Institute of Engineers, New Delhi and Institute of Defense Management, Secunderabad.
He served in the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers from 1954 to 1990. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal by the President in 1982 for distinguished service in the Indian Army.
After retirement, he entered politics and was elected to the Lok Sabha for the BJP from the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand in 1991 and subsequent elections.
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (27 June 2009-10 September 2011)
Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” (born 15 July 1958) is an Indian politician and the current Union Minister of Human Resource Development in the Government of India. He is a prominent leader of the Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party and a Hindi poet. He is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Haridwar constituency and is the chairman of the Lok Sabha Assurance Committee. Ramesh Pokhriyal ji has been the fifth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand state.
He was born in Pinani village, Pauri Garhwal, then Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) to Parmanand Pokhriyal and Vishwambhari Devi. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ is married to Kusum Kant Pokhriyal.
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 1991, he was first elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Karnprayag constituency. After this, in 1993 and 1996, he was again elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the same constituency. In 1997, he became Uttaranchal Development Minister in the State Government of Uttar Pradesh. He is a Member of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha and was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2009 to 2011. He was the fifth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2009 to 2011. Dr Nishank resolved complex and sensitive issues like the inclusion of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar in the state of Uttarakhand with the help of political acumen, knowledge and sound coordination skills during his Chief Ministership.
Vijay Bahuguna (13 March 2012-31 January 2014)
Vijay Bahuguna (born: 28 February 1947) is an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress. From 2012 to 2014, he was the sixth Chief Minister of the state of Uttarakhand. Vijay Bahuguna was an advocate in the Supreme Court before joining politics. He is the eldest son of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, an independence activist and politician, and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Vijay Bahuguna was a member of the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha of India.
Vijay Bahuguna was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 13 March 2012. Vijay Bahuguna submitted his resignation from the post of Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 31 January 2014. His government received widespread criticism for its handling of rescue operations in the wake of the Kedarnath floods in June 2013. Due to this Harish Rawat took oath as Chief Minister on 1 February 2014 in the presence of Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi.
Harish Rawat (1 February 2014-18 March 2017)
Harish Singh Rawat is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2014 to 2017. A five-time Member of Parliament, Rawat is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress party. As a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, Rawat served as the Union Minister of Water Resources in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet from 2012 to 2014. He also served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture.
Harish Rawat was born in a Kumaoni Rajput family to Rajendra Singh on 27 April 1948 in Mohanari village (Adbora Mohanari Gram Sabha) near Ranikhet, Chaunaliya (263680) in Almora district of United Provinces (now Uttarakhand). Rawat and Devki Devi. He studied at GIC Chaunaliya in the initial days. He holds the degree of Bachelor of Arts and LLB. from Lucknow University. He is married to fellow Congress member and politician Renuka Rawat, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Lucknow University.
In 2000, he was unanimously elected as the President of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, [9] and remained until he was replaced by Yashpal Arya. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.
In the 2009 general election, he left his traditional stronghold of Almora to contest from Haridwar after delimitation made it a reserved seat and won the election there.
In February 2014, Rawat was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand when Vijay Bahuguna resigned due to criticism of his handling of rehabilitation after the June 2013 floods. In July 2014, he won the Dharchula Assembly seat by-election.
On 18 March 2016, nine Congress MLAs rebelled against Rawat, reducing the Congress-led government to a minority. The central government decided to impose President’s rule in the state, and the order was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 March 2016. He was later reinstated as Chief Minister on 11 May 2016 after winning a trust vote. On March 11, the Congress under the leadership of Harish Rawat lost the 2017 assembly elections to the BJP. He also lost the two seats (Haridwar Rural and Kichha) from where he contested.
Trivendra Singh Rawat (18 March 2017-10 March 2021)
Trivendra Singh Rawat is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand between 2017 and 2021. And he is a campaigner of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. On 17 March 2017, he was appointed the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Trivendra Singh Rawat was born on 20 December 1960 in Khairasain village of Kotdwar tehsil in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. He was the ninth and youngest child in the family. He obtained his Master’s degree in Journalism from Birla Campus, Srinagar, affiliated with Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.
Rawat joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1979, before becoming a pracharak for the Dehradun region in 1985. Thereafter, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political party affiliated with it. He was also actively involved in the Uttarakhand movement, during which he was arrested several times. After the region attained statehood in 2000, Rawat was made the state cadre BJP president.
As a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rawat served as the in-charge of Jharkhand and president of the Uttarakhand cadre. He was made chief minister in 2017 after his party won a majority and formed the government, winning again from Doiwala. Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from the post on 9 March 2021, citing a “collective decision” made by the party. He did not contest the 2022 assembly elections.
Tirath Singh Rawat (10 March 2021 – 4 July 2021)
Tirath Singh Rawat is a politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. On 10 March 2021, he took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was the State President of Uttarakhand BJP from February 2013 to December 2015 and is a former MLA (2012-2017) from Chaubattakhal, Tirath Singh Rawat is the National Secretary of BJP as well as MP from Garhwal Lok Sabha. Apart from being the BJP candidate from the Pauri seat, he was also made the election in-charge of Himachal Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Tirath Singh Rawat is a politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the year 2000, the first education minister of the newly formed Uttarakhand was elected. On 10 March 2021, Tirath Singh Rawat became the 10th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Mr Rawat was made the candidate of BJP in the 17th Lok Sabha elections of India from the Pauri seat, which he won with huge votes.
In the internal survey conducted after the removal of Trivendra Singh Rawat from the post of Chief Minister, it was found that it is difficult to win the election with the help of Tirath Singh Rawat’s face. Then the party leadership also feared that if Rawat lost in the by-election or if the party lost in the by-election for the Pauri Garhwal seat of the Lok Sabha vacated by him, then it would suffer a big political loss.
Teerath Singh Rawat, MP from Pauri Garhwal, had to win the assembly elections by 10 September. Earlier he was advised to contest the Salt by-election, but he did not agree. But on July 4, 2021, when Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation, he wrote in the letter that due to constitutional obligation “I cannot become a member of the assembly in six months. In such a situation, I do not want any crisis to arise in front of the party”. Therefore I am resigning from the post of CM. Tirath Singh Rawat held the chair of Chief Minister in Uttarakhand for 114 days.
Pushkar Singh Dhami (from 4 July 2021 till date)
Pushkar Singh Dhami (Born: September 16, 1975)is the 10th CM of Uttarakhand. He is from Bharatiya Janata Party. He has taken oath as CM for the second term in the year 2022. Pushkar Singh Dhami entered student politics from Lucknow University and held various positions in ABVP. The achievement of being the convener of the national convention of ABVP in Lucknow is recorded in his account. Pushkar Singh Dhami was also the UP State General Secretary of ABVP. After the formation of a separate state of Uttarakhand in 2000, he remained OSD to CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari. He was the State President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha twice from 2002 to 2008.
On 4 July 2021, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) elected Pushkar Singh Dhami as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from the post of Chief Minister, he took oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
In the Uttarakhand Assembly Elections 2022, the most important seat of Udham Singh Nagar district was Khatima, because BJP Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was in the fray from here. Udham Singh Nagar has 9 assembly seats. It also comes with a Khatima seat. From where BJP Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was in the fray. However, he had to face defeat from here. Despite this, the party made Pushkar Singh Dhami the CM.
Pushkar Singh had lost the assembly elections from Dhami Khatima. In such a situation, he needed to reach the assembly within 6 months to remain the CM. Kailash Gahtodi, MLA from Champawat had resigned for CM Dhami, in such a situation, he now contested from Champawat assembly seat in the by-election. In May 2022, a by-election was held on the Champawat assembly seat in which Pushkar Singh Dhami won the election and he again got the command of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
Gurmeet singh 8th Governor Uttarakhand
Frequently asked questions about Chief Ministers Of Uttarakhand
These are just a few commonly asked questions about Chief Ministers Of Uttarakhand. If you have any specific queries or need further information, feel free to ask! Certainly! Here are some frequently asked questions about the Chief Ministers Of Uttarakhand along with their answers :
Who was the first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand?
Shri Nityananda Swami was the first Chief Minister of the state of Uttarakhand, whose tenure was from 9 November 2000 to 29 October 2001.
Who is the current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand?
The Current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand is Pushkar Singh Dhami. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), serving as the 10th and current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand since 2021. He represents the Champawat assembly constituency in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly since 2022 and previously represented Khatima from 2012 to 2022.
What is the tenure of the Chief Minister in Uttarakhand?
The tenure of the Chief Minister in Uttarakhand is generally five years, subject to the confidence of the Legislative Assembly. However, the tenure can be shorter if the government loses a vote of confidence or if there is a mid-term election.
How is the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand appointed?
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand is appointed by the Governor of the state. After the state legislative elections, the party or coalition with the majority in the Legislative Assembly is invited by the Governor to form the government, and the leader of that party or coalition is appointed as the Chief Minister.
Who was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand during the 2013 Uttarakhand Kedarnath floods?
During the 2013 Uttarakhand Kedarnath floods, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand was Vijay Bahuguna.
Has Uttarakhand ever been under President’s Rule?
Yes, Uttarakhand has been under President’s rule twice in its history, first for 25 days from 27 March 2016 to 21 April 2016 and second for 19 days from 22 April 2016 to 11 May 2016. President’s rule is imposed when the state faces a constitutional crisis and the governance cannot be carried on as per the provisions of the constitution. During President’s rule, the state’s governor takes over the executive powers of the elected government, and the state is governed directly by the President of India.
How many chief ministers are there in Uttarakhand?
The state of Uttarakhand was formed in the year 2000 by carving out the hilly districts of Uttar Pradesh. Pushkar Singh Dhami took oath as the 10th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 23 March 2022. In this journey of 20 years of Uttarakhand, the state has got 11 Chief Ministers. The BJP has given seven chief ministers, while the Congress party has given three chief ministers to the state. However, for the first time in the five years of BJP rule, Uttarakhand has got three chief ministers each. The most important thing is that out of all the Chief Ministers, only former Congress CM Narayan Dutt Tiwari was able to complete his five-year term so far.
Who was the first governor of Uttarakhand?
The State of Uttarakhand (earlier known as Uttaranchal) came into existence on 9th November 2000 as the 27th State of the Republic of India. The official residence of the Governor of Uttarakhand is the Raj Bhavan, located in the state capital Dehradun. Surjit Singh Barnala was the first Governor of Uttarakhand, who served as the Governor of Uttarakhand from 9 November 2000 to 7 January 2003.
Who has the shortest tenure as Chief Minister in Uttarakhand?
Harish Rawat had the shortest tenure as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He served as the Chief Minister for one day, from 21 April 2016 to 22 April 2016. After the resignation of Trivendra Rawat, on March 10, 2021, Tirath Singh Rawat took over the post of Chief Minister in Uttarakhand. However, he too could not go far and had to submit his resignation on July 4, 2021. That is, he became the Chief Minister for only 116 days.