Meanwhile, having decided to retain Pushkar Singh Dhami as the chief minister, the BJP has now moved on to the next job at hand, cabinet formation in Uttarakhand.

At least three new inductions in Dhami's new cabinet are a certainty. As Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya, who were members of the last cabinet, joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls and former minister Swami Yatishwaranand lost his seat, the party needs to pick up three new faces to fill the slots that were occupied by them.

Probables who could be brought in for the three slots include former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna's son and Sitarganj MLA Saurav Bahugua, former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri's daughter and Kotdwar MLA Ritu Khanduri Bhushan and Dilip Singh Rawat, who scored an emphatic win over Harak Singh Rawat's daughter-in-law, Anukriti Gusain, in Lansdowne.

If inducted into Dhami's new cabinet, all three of them will make their debut as ministers.

Old faces likely to be retained are Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya and Arvind Pandey, who were all members of Dhami's last cabinet.

The BJP, notably, won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand and bagged 47 seats in the 70-member assembly.

(With inputs from agencies)