With assembly elections less than eighteen months away, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami walked into a Rajpur Road hotel in Dehradun on Thursday, September 24, 2026, and laid out a comprehensive — and unmistakably political — vision for the state's future. The occasion was a conclave organised by Adda Insider on the theme 'Uttarakhand — Vikas, Chunautiyaan aur 2027 ki Raah' ('Uttarakhand — Development, Challenges and the Road to 2027'), and Dhami used every minute of it.

Nation First, Party Second, Individual Third

Dhami opened by anchoring his politics in a clear hierarchy: 'Rashtra Pratham, Sangathan Dwitiya, Vyakti Tritiya' — 'Nation first, organisation second, individual third.' It is the governing philosophy he attributed to the BJP, and the framing was deliberate. In a state where anti-incumbency whispers grow louder ahead of every election cycle, projecting selfless governance is the oldest and most effective counter-move.

He told the audience that the people of Uttarakhand want stability and development, and that his government was working 'with full commitment' to deliver both — placing public-interest work at the top of the priority list.

PM Modi's 28 Visits and the 'First Village' Doctrine

A significant portion of Dhami's address was devoted to reinforcing the bond between the hill state and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dhami said Modi has visited Devbhoomi Uttarakhand 28 times since becoming Prime Minister — a figure the Chief Minister used to underscore the Centre's emotional and policy investment in the region.

The most striking example Dhami cited was Modi's visit to Mana, the remote border village near the India-China frontier in Chamoli district. By declaring Mana and villages like it the country's 'first village' rather than its 'last village,' Modi reframed the entire narrative around frontier communities — from peripheral to pioneering. Dhami argued this rhetorical shift had unlocked a new development mindset for border regions across the state.

Uttarakhand Tops NITI Aayog's SDG Index

The headline achievement Dhami cited was Uttarakhand's first-place ranking in the NITI Aayog Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index. The NITI Aayog has published this index annually since 2018, ranking Indian states across metrics spanning health, education, clean energy, and economic growth. Topping it nationally is a credible, independently verified benchmark — and Dhami wielded it as evidence that governance quality, not just infrastructure spending, has improved.

On tourism, he pointed to multiple national awards and highlighted three fast-growing segments: film shooting destinations, adventure tourism, and wedding destinations — each representing private investment and local employment without heavy state expenditure.

35,000 Government Jobs and a Tough Anti-Cheating Law

Dhami turned directly to the youth with numbers that will be scrutinised carefully in the months ahead. He claimed that roughly 35,000 young people have been appointed to government posts over the last five years, and credited a strict anti-cheating law — introduced to clean up recruitment — for restoring trust in the public hiring system. The law, he said, ensures that hard-working, meritorious candidates are no longer crowded out by malpractice.

His tone shifted when he spoke about visiting youth outside the formal setting of the Chief Minister's office. 'I try to go among them not as a Chief Minister but as a friend,' he said, adding that conversations with young people fill him with new energy and ideas — a line that speaks as much to 2027 vote-bank arithmetic as it does to personal warmth.

13,000 Acres Freed From Encroachment

Dhami also flagged an enforcement number that has been central to the BJP's 'Devbhoomi identity' argument: the state has reclaimed more than 13,000 acres of government land from encroachment so far. The anti-encroachment drive touches on questions of land use, religious character, and demographic change — issues that carry significant electoral weight in Uttarakhand.

He closed by linking every local initiative to PM Modi's larger Viksit Bharat 2047 target — a developed India by the centenary of independence — framing Uttarakhand not as a lagging hill state but as an active contributor to that national ambition.

With the 2027 assembly election now firmly in the room, the road Dhami described on Thursday runs straight through every statistic he cited — and voters will decide whether the numbers add up.