Pauri Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat was on Wednesday chosen as the leader of the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party, paving the way for his becoming the new chief minister of the hill state. He will take oath as the chief minister at 4 pm today. The decision was announced by former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat.
BJP's legislature party met was held to decide the successor of Trivendra Singh Rawat who has resigned as the chief minister, ending days of speculations about a leadership change in the BJP-ruled hill state amid reports of discontent against him. He was to complete four years in the office later this month.
"The party gave me a golden opportunity to serve this State for four years. I had never thought that I would get such an opportunity. The party has now decided that the opportunity to serve as CM should be given to someone else now," Rawat said.
About half a dozen names were doing the rounds as probables for the chief minister's post including Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Nainital MP Ajay Bhatt, state Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni and state minister of Higher education Dhan Singh Rawat. However, Tirath Singh Rawat was preferred in the legislature party meeting, which lasted around 30 minutes. His choice by the BJP comes as a surprise as he was not among the favourites.
Who is Tirath Singh Rawat?
Tirath Singh Rawat, 56, will be the new chief minister of Uttarakhand. He was the BJP chief in Uttarakhand from February 9, 2013 to December 31, 2015 and a former member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from Chaubttakhal constituency from 2012 to 2017. Tirath Singh Rawat is MP from Garhwal (Uttarakhand).
BJP MP, he was the chief of the party in Uttarakhand from 2013 to 2015 and also an MLA from the state in the past.
The BJP swept the elections in 2017, winning 57 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly. Congress, on the other hand, won just 11 seats.
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