Uttarakhand CM resigns, BJP MLAs meet today

Less than four months after he took oath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat handed in his resignation to BJP president J.P. Nadda on Friday, party sources say. The state is staring at the Assembly elections next year.

Sources say that Rawat, who had been in Delhi for the past three days for meetings with the central BJP leadership, was asked on Friday afternoon by the ruling party to quit. Soon after, he sought an appointment with Governor Baby Rani Maurya. But before meeting with the Governor, he handed in his papers to the party president.

Reports suggest that the BJP has asked Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar to go to Dehradun on Saturday as an observer. BJP MLAs in Uttarakhand will meet at 3 pm on Saturday to pick a new leader.

Rawat was sworn in as Chief Minister in March, with a little over a year to the Uttarakhand election, amid fierce dissent against then CM Trivendra Rawat.

But to keep the post, Rawat, who is an MP, would need to win an Assembly seat by 10 September. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, holding a by-election would be a tough decision for the Election Commission, especially after the massive controversy over the March-April election in five states, held alongside rising Covid-19 cases in the second surge.

Sources say that the BJP, given the pandemic situation, may choose a sitting MLA. The names of Satpal Maharaj, Banshidar Bhagat, Harak Singh Rawat and Dhan Singh Rawat are doing the rounds as probable replacements for Rawat.

Tirath Rawat took oath as Uttarakhand’s CM on 10 March, replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat.

At the time of taking oath, Tirath Rawat was not an elected MLA in the Uttarakhand Assembly, and was rather a Lok Sabha MP representing Pauri Garhwal. He continues to be a Lok Sabha MP at present.

As per the Constitution, a minister or the CM has to get elected to the state legislature within six months of taking oath. The person can either be elected to the legislative assembly or the legislative council (in states that have two houses). Uttarakhand does not have any legislative council. In the case of Tirath Rawat, he has until September 10 to get elected to the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly through a byelection.