Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday, 9 March, resigned from his post amid rising political turmoil in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Uttarakhand was witnessing an upheaval due to internal discontent within the state unit, with several MLAs and leaders close to the CM’s office being unhappy with Rawat’s functioning and bureaucracy.
Rawat met Governor Baby Rani Maurya in Dehradun on Tuesday and submitted his resignation.
Taking to Twitter, Maurya said: “Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat submitted his resignation after a meeting at Raj Bhavan. I accepted his resignation, but urged him to continue as acting CM till a new chief minister is appointed.”
WHAT RAWAT SAID AFTER HIS RESIGNATION
Addressing the media, Rawat thanked the party for giving him an opportunity to serve the state.
“The party gave me a golden opportunity to serve this state for four years. I had never imagined that I would get such an opportunity. The party has now decided that the opportunity to serve as the chief minister should be given to someone else,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
He further announced that the BJP legislature party meeting is scheduled to be held at 10 am on Wednesday at the party office.
HOW TROUBLE BEGAN FOR RAWAT
Rawat was facing resentment from within the party by MLAs and MPs for a while.
For the past several days, most of the party MLAs and MPS, particularly officials close to the CM office, had complained against the working style of the CM and his bureaucracy, leading to rising demands of Rawat’s resignation.
Moreover, several complaints, including those filed in the Nainital High Court, too, had pointed out the inefficiencies in the state government’s functioning.
A recent complaint filed in the high court relating to major projects of Haridwar Kumbh Mela, highlighting incompletion of important works, had caused embarrassment to the party.
BJP’S CORE COMMITTEE TRIED TO ADDRESS ISSUES
A core committee meeting of the BJP in Uttarakhand was held on Saturday, 6 March, in the presence of two central party observers, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and National General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
The two observers had a separate meeting with several MLAs in Uttarakhand as well, IANS reported quoting sources.
Following the meetings, several party leaders had hinted at a possible reshuffle in the Cabinet to accommodate the unhappy MLAs.
Later, talking to media persons, state party president Bansidhar Bhagat had said that as of now there is no change-of-guard in Uttarakhand.
Both observers had then given a detailed report to Home Minister Amit Shah and President JP Nadda, following which, Rawat was summoned to Delhi by the party leadership.
WHAT HAPPENED IN DELHI?
Rawat on Monday met Rajya Sabha MP and national media in-charge of the BJP, Anil Baluni. Quoting sources, IANS reported that Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, and National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh were also present in the meeting.
Rawat then headed to Nadda's residence for another meeting.
The BJP top leadership also met in the Parliament House complex for about 40 minutes to discuss the Uttarakhand situation on Monday.
Four ministers and 10 MLAs of Uttarakhand had been camping in Delhi for the past few days. Minister Arvind Pandey, Satpal Maharaj Subodh Uniyal, former MP Balraj Pasi, MLA Khajan Das, Harbans Kapoor, Harbhajan Singh Cheema, and other leaders are present in the national capital.
WHO ARE THE POSSIBLE CONTENDERS?
According to several media reports, Dhan Singh Rawat is widely being considered as the frontrunner for the post. Senior MPs from the state Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni are also reported to be strong contenders.
Several reports also suggested that Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank might be appointed the chief minister to tackle the turmoil.
(With inputs from ANI & IANS.)
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