New Delhi: Tirath Singh Rawat, BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Garhwal, was appointed as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand Wednesday.
The decision was taken at the legislative party meeting of the BJP in Dehradun. He will take oath today.
Rawat (56), who has been an MLA in the past, also served as the Uttarakhand BJP chief from 2013 and 2015.
Trivendra Singh Rawat made the announcement in Dehradun Wednesday, day after resigning as CM. He told reporters that he was happy that Tirath Singh Rawat has been given this opportunity by the party.
Rawat’s name was chosen over other candidates, including BJP MP Anil Baluni, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Uttarakhand minister Dhan Singh Rawat.
Several BJP MLAs reached the party’s state headquarters in Dehradun Wednesday along with parliamentarians including Pokhriyal, Ajay Bhatt, Mala Rajya Lakshmi, Naresh Bansal and central observers Dushyant Gautam and former Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh.
Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned as the chief minister of Uttarakhand Tuesday, following a meeting with party president J.P. Nadda Monday night.
Rawat met Governor Baby Rani Maurya at Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation.
Rawat, who was scheduled to complete four years in office on 18 March, was summoned to Delhi amid mounting pressure from the BJP leadership to replace him ahead of the assembly elections due next year.
The observers had pointed out the MLAs’ resentment with Rawat’s style of functioning and his lack of control over the administration. Some of the MLAs had also said his “uninspiring” leadership had the potential of damaging the party’s prospects in the 2022 assembly elections.
The BJP had won the 2017 assembly elections in Uttarakhand with a huge majority, securing 57 seats in the 70-member House.
Edited by Sanghamitra Mazumdar
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