Pushkar Singh Dhami was elected as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party in Uttarakhand on Monday after days of speculation. He will take charge as the Chief Minister for a second stint.

During the state assembly polls held last month, the party’s poll efforts were led by Dhami, who was the sitting CM. He though, lost from the Khatima constituency in Uttarakhand.

Following the declaration of results on March 10, there were speculations on Dhami continuing as the CM for a second time, reported ANI.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Meenakshi Lekhi were present in the meeting as central observers. The announced the decision of the party MLAs to elect Dhami as the leader.

Several names were among discussions for the position including former Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, MLA Dhan Singh Rawat and Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj.

Notably, Dhami, who had won twice from the seat, lost to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri from Khatima by a margin of 6,579 votes in the state polls. He managed to secure 41,598 votes amounting to a vote share of 44.8 per cent against Kapri who got 48,17 votes.

Dhami was born in 1975 in in Kanalichhina village in Pithoragarh district. He has a degree in law and had also worked as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer and was a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

He had served as the president of BJP Yuva Morcha in the state twice between 2002 and 2008. Dhami will become the 13^th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

The BJP won in Uttarakhand for second consecutive term, securing 47 seats in the 70-member assembly.