In May 1997 he became a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, upper house of legislature of Uttar Pradesh. In 2000, he was appointed minister of Energy, Irrigation, Law, and Legislative Affairs of the newly created state of Uttaranchal. In 2001 he replaced Nityanand Swami as the chief minister of Uttarakhand. He has also served as the President of the BJP of his state. As a result of his party's defeat in the 2002 Assembly elections, he resigned in March 2002 as the chief minister. However, he was elected from Kapkot assembly constituency, and became the leader of the opposition of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, till 2007.