Who Will Be Next Uttarakhand CM? BJP's Key Meet to Decide Underway

Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation in the late hours of Friday, 2 July.

Tirath Singh Rawat during his oath taking ceremony. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is scheduled to hold a crucial legislature meet at 3 pm on Saturday after Rawat's resignation.

(Photo: PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is holding a crucial legislature meet on Saturday, 3 July, to elect the next CM of Uttarakhand in the light of incumbent CM Tirath Singh Rawat's resignation late on Friday.

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and other BJP leaders have reached the state headquarters in Dehradun for the legislative party meet to elect the new chief minister of the state, reported ANI.

Earlier, Madan Kaushik, BJP state president told news agency ANI:

"In the legislature meet at 3 pm, we will elect the leader (CM). After that we will meet the Governor for government formation."

Kaushik added that it is possible that the new CM will be selected from among the MLAs.

Who Could Be the Next CM?

As per Kaushik, the BJP is likely to choose from among the MLAs from the state – in which case the most likely options could be Dhan Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj.

Both are prominent leaders who belong to the same Thakur community as Tirath Singh Rawat and are from the Garhwal region.

Dhan Singh Rawat, an MLA from Srinagar constituency, is presently a minister of state for independent charge and Satpal Maharaj is also a cabinet minister and a member of the legislative assemly from Chaubattakhal.

Tirath Singh Rawat's Resignation

Speaking on the circumstances surrounding Rawat's resignation, the state president said on Saturday, "Election Commission had no issue with conducting polls but due to COVID, it could not materialise. In such circumstances, resignation was the only option."

Rawat's resignation came after 4 short months of his taking charge as the state leader – when the Uttarakhand assembly elections were only a year ahead.

However, the former CM, who had replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat, was still not a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Owing to this, Rawat is said to have cited that he cannot continue as CM as an election is no longer possible under Section 151 of the Representation of People Act.

Veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat said that the Uttarakhand chief minister citing 'constitutional compulsion' for resignation was the 'biggest lie'.

"What can be a bigger lie than this that byelections cannot be held in Uttarakhand due to COVID and the chief minister is resigning due to constitutional compulsion. The reality is that byelections have been held before in the same COVID period," tweeted Rawat.

(With inputs from ANI)