Uttarakhand is seeing a political crisis, especially with the resignation of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Now, the names of three potential replacements for Rawat have surfaced, one of whom is member of Parliament Ajay Bhatt. However, in an interview with The Sunday Guardian, Bhatt said that he is not part of the CM race and that the final decision will rest with the BJP high command.
Q. What was the reason behind the resignation of Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat?
A. Yes, Trivendra Singh Rawat has resigned. He is one of the top leaders of the party and was also Sanghatan Mantri. The party must have thought to utilise his experience somewhere else. That’s why he resigned perhaps. But he is our leader and he will always remain our leader.
Q. There were a lot of MLAs and ministers who were stationed in Delhi and were not happy with Trivendra Singh Rawat’s work. Was that one of the reasons?
A. I don’t think so. Most of the MLAs and ministers come to Delhi every fortnight because Delhi is near Uttarakhand. From Uttaranchal to Haldwani to Haridwar, every place is very near to Delhi. So they might have come but I don’t think so they planned and came. I did not even meet them.
Q. Trivendra Singh Rawat had already completed four years of his tenure and only one more year was left. There were a lot of programmes which were scheduled in the state but cancelled and he was summoned by the high command to Delhi. Can we see that as a signal that the party leadership was not happy with him?
A. Everyone was happy. It is only that the party leadership knows which leader’s experience has to be utilised where. They do that on a regular basis. This is all the internal functioning of the party. The party workers are like army jawans – wherever the high command tells us to depute, we work as per their requirement.
Q. Are you also in the race of becoming the next Chief Minister of Uttarakhand?
A. I am nowhere in the race for becoming Chief Minister. I have not met anyone nor have I been called by anyone. We are party workers, so we work according to the orders of the high command.
Q. Dhan Singh Rawat has been called to Dehradun. Can he become the next CM?
A. Dhan Singh ji was in Srinagar, where he went for some programme. It was very difficult to come down from Srinagar. As per protocol, any minister can ask for a state helicopter in need and, therefore, he was called. The last decision on any name will be taken by the party high command at the party legislative meeting.