Trivendra Singh Rawat resigns as Uttarakhand CM, day after meeting BJP top brass
Rawat, whose resignation comes after several BJP MLAs complained over his 'style of governance,' later said at a press conference that his successor would be announced after a legislative party meeting on Wednesday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday resigned as the chief minister of Uttarakhand, a year before the hill state is scheduled to go to polls. Rawat, who became the CM after the BJP swept the assembly elections here in early 2017, tendered his resignation after meeting governor Baby Rani Maurya.
Addressing a press conference after resigning, Rawat said that it was a collective decision by the BJP that someone else should get a chance to serve as the next CM of Uttarakhand. "Serving the state for four years was a golden opportunity for me which the party gave me. Extremely thankful to the party for giving the opportunity to a man hailing from a small village," he added. The now-former CM added that a legislative party meeting would take place at 10am on Wednesday after which which his successor would be announced.
The BJP's central observers for Uttarakhand, Raman Singh and Dushyant Kumar Gautam, will reach Dehradun later in the day for Wednesday's meeting.
According to reports, the party is mulling bringing in a deputy chief minister, with the frontrunners for the top post being state education minister Dhan Singh Rawat, and Lok Sabha MPs Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni. Union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is also a former CM of the northern state.
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On Monday, Rawat met senior BJP leadership in Delhi amid complaints by a section of Uttarakhand BJP MLAs over his “style of governance.” He returned to state capital Dehradun on Tuesday morning, and was welcomed by his supporters at the Jolly Grant Airport. While in the national capital, the BJP leader met party chief JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and general secretary BL Santhosh.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP came to power winning 57 seats in the 69-member assembly. The Congress, on the other hand, won just 11 seats. While the BJP increased its tally from 31 in 2012, the Congress' went down from 32.