B C Khanduri, a former army general, was Sunday sworn in as chief minister of Uttarakhand replacing Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, in an apparent bid by Bharatiya Janata Party to lift its sagging image following corruption charges and intra-party feuds in the state ahead of assembly polls.

Capping a two-day high voltage political drama at New Delhi, Nishank resigned this morning after being given marching orders by the party high command, paving the way for 76-year-old Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri to take the reins of the government as it braces for the February elections.

After Nishank, 54, put in his papers, Khanduri was elected as the new leader of the BJP legislature party by a voice vote.

Governor Margaret Alva administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khanduri, who returns to the top post two years after he was removed by the party after it lost all the five Lok Sabha seats in the 2009 general elections.

All the eleven ministers, who were part of Nishank cabinet, have been retained by Khanduri.

The cabinet ministers who took oath at the function at Rangers Ground in Dehradun were Matbar Singh Kandari, Banshidhar Bhagat, Prakash Pant, Diwakar Bhatt, Madan Kaushik, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Govind Singh Bist, Vijaya Barthwal, Khajan Das and Balwant Singh Bhoryal.