Pushkar Singh Dhami, who will take oath as the chief minister of Uttarakhand for a second term on Wednesday, said that introducing a Uniform Civil Code was on the agenda of his government, PTI reported.

“We will fulfill all the commitments that we made to people ahead of the polls...The uniform civil code is an important one among them and we will fulfil it too,” Dhami told reporters on Mondayafter the Bharatiya Janata Party decided to retain Dhami as chief minister of the hill state. The BJP Legislature Party chose Dhami even as he had lost his seat in the recent Assembly elections.

Dhami had lost the Khatima seat to Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes. He will have to get elected in a bye-poll within six months of taking oath. He would be contesting a seat that one of the elected BJP MLAs would vacate.

In the lead up to the elections too, Dhami had promised that if voted to power, the BJP would form a panel to prepare a draft to introduce the Uniform Civil Code in the state.

A uniform civil code involves having a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all Indians, instead of allowing different personal laws for people of different faiths.

The aim of such uniformity is meant to ensure equality and justice for women in particular, who are often denied their rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance under patriarchal personal laws.

On Monday, Dhami also said that his party will make Uttarakhand a “leading state”, PTI reported.

“The prime minister has given us his vision for Uttarakhand’s development,” he told reporters. “We will work in accordance with his vision and make Uttarakhand a leading state when it celebrates the silver jubilee of its existence in 2025.”