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New Uttarakhand CM, wife have a strong UP connect
LUCKNOW: New Uttarakhand (UK) chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat and his wife Dr Rashmi Rawat have a strong Uttar Pradesh connect
LUCKNOW: New Uttarakhand (UK) chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat and his wife Dr Rashmi Rawat have a strong Uttar Pradesh connect.
Tirath Rawat, 56, known for his affable nature and a calm temperament, had served in various organisational capacities in the erstwhile undivided UP and was in fact the member of legislative council (MLC) when the hill state was carved out from the state.
Tirath would now lead the BJP into the Uttarakhand polls due in February 2022, party leaders said.
Interestingly, UK governor Baby Rani Maurya who administered the oath of office and secrecy to Tirath, also hails from western UP and was the first woman mayor of Agra.
Tirath’s wife Rashmi, now a psychology teacher in DAV College, Dehradun hails from Kharkhauda village of Meerut.
Rashmi’s family, including mother and brothers, now live in proper Meerut where there are many people who remember the couple’s deep association with western UP.
“She was a student of psychology in CCS University from where she also contested student union polls for the post of president on ABVP ticket,” recalled Manoj Kumar Tripathi, a former lecturer of political science at CCS University.
“The one thing that stands out about the couple is their easy approach as they are down to earth,” Tripathi recalled.
“While Dr Rashmi is very humble, the new Uttarakhand CM also has a cool temperament. I remember the time when I was also in ABVP. There was BJP government in the state and we had gone to Garhwal for the ABVP convention when some political opponents burnt down the gate of the convention. Tirath was ABVP’s national secretary and yet he exercised great restraint and told us to not lose our cool. He said only dialogue could bring lasting peace,” Tripathi recalled.
Ashwani Tyagi, an old RSS hand, treasurer of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh’s UP chapter and close family friend of the Rawats was expecting them in his village in Meerut sometime later this week.
“They are fabulous people and I was expecting them at my place next week. But, now of course, it won’t be possible. I will invite them later,” Tyagi (who was present at the swearing-in ceremony) said on phone from Dehradun.
Lal Singh Deshbandhu, an old RSS hand and another close family friend of the Rawats, said he was present when the Uttarakhand CM got married. “The marriage took place in Meerut. The couple knew each other from their ABVP days,” said Deshbandhu, who back then was an RSS functionary in Meerut.
