Kanak Dhanai: A Political Prodigy Builds His Own Path in Uttarakhand

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Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), [India], May 13, 2024: The young, vociferous voice of Rishikesh, having his strong roots in the realm of Uttarakhand’s politics, Kanak Dhanai, is the novel voice of the masses. As the son of an esteemed politician from Tehri (former cabinet minister), Shri Dinesh Dhanai, Kanak has learned all the nitty-gritty of state governance and politics from his family. Kanak was born in a Hindu Rajput family in Rishikesh Raiwala on the 20th of March 1994, inheriting a legacy of service determinant to the state and nation. 

With stark intellect and unedifying resolution, Kanak Dhanai has navigated the complexities of the new school of ground politics with each step forward, starting from activism. As he treads the path, his academic discipline in law and public policy has always helped him navigate the labyrinth.  Taking further his legal studies into the realm of writing, he authored a book, “Why Balkanisation,” in the fourth year of his law school. His educational journey includes a master’s in Public Policy from Queen Mary University of London and a certificate course from the School of Continuing Education University of Oxford on Ethics of War, Protest, Terrorism, and Revolution, laying the solid substratum of policymaking in the form of Think Tank that he founded in the year 2023 ‘YOJNA THINK TANK’. YTT is a chamber for public policy and thoughtful governance. While initially, he embarked upon forming the regional party i.e. Uttarakhand Janekta Party, which marked his candidacy in the state assembly election 2022 from Rishikesh. Kanak’s populist rhetoric helped him to garner thirteen thousand plus (13000+) votes in the bastion of Bhartiya Janta Party, Rishikesh assembly, at the young age of 27, the youngest & highest in the history of independent candidature.

Kanak Dhanai’s association with the BJP has strengthened the party’s local organisation in Rishikesh. His oratory skills and articulation have led to Kanak’s adoption into the new party fold, which was warmly received by Mahinder Bhatt, the BJP party chief, and former Chief Minister Trivender Singh Rawat.

Kanak’s journey is epitomised as a voice of dissent in Uttarakhand’s policy landscape.