Change of guard. BJP MP from Pauri Garhwal, Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn-in on Wednesday as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, a day after the resignation by Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath of office to the new Chief Minister at the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun.
“Congratulations to Tirath Singh Rawat on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He brings with him vast administrative and organisational experience. I am confident that under his leadership the state will continue to scale new heights of progress,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted minutes after the swearing in ceremony.
Earlier in the day, the BJP Legislative Party took the call to appoint the new Chief Minister.
The outgoing Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat made the announcement of his successor post the meeting.
Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, MPs Ajay Bhatt, Mala Rajya Lakshmi and Naresh Bansal and BJP National General Secretary and state in-charge Dushyant Gautam were present at the meeting.
The meeting was called following the resignation by Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday following the direction by the BJP’s central leadership after three days of turmoil as several party MLAs expressed their unhappiness over the functioning of the former Chief Minister.
Tirath Singh Rawat has served as BJP state unit chief from 2013 to 2015. In his student days he was associated with ABVP. While working with the RSS he worked his way up the ladder in the BJP. In 1997, he became a member of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad, and have served as a state minister.
After Uttarakhand Chief Ministet Trivendra Singh Rawat had resigned from his post on Tuesday, the opposition Congress demanded President’s rule in the state.
Congress in-charge for the state, Devendra Yadav, told the media in New Delhi, “The entire government is involved in corruption. We would request President Ram Nath Kovind to dismiss the Uttarakhand government and hold fresh elections in the state.”
Former Uttarakhand minister and Congress leader Nav Prabhat said, “The BJP has accepted that the Chief Minister did not perform in the last four years. That is why he has been removed.”
Sources close to former Uttarakhand CM and Congress leader Harish Rawat said that the problems which have come to haunt the BJP now were sown by them, as most of the MLAs who have opened the front against Trivendra Singh Rawat are leaders who had crossed to the BJP from the Congress.
Talking to reporters in Haridwar, Harish Rawat said, “Regardless of whom they (BJP) bring in as the CM now, they will not come back to power in 2022. A change in power is happening. Even the BJP’s central leadership has admitted that its present government in Uttarakhand could not do much in the state.”
The BJP legislative party in Uttarakhand will meet on Wednesday morning to select the new Chief Minister, a senior party leader said.
The BJP is likely to assign Trivendra Singh Rawat some organisational responsibility at the national level.
BJP national General Secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge, Dushyant Gautam, said that Rawat’s vast organisational and administrative experience will be used by the party.
“The BJP uses the experience of its workers in different capacities and Trivendra-ji has vast experience in organisation as well as the government. His experience will be used for the benefit of the party,” Gautam said.
He further stated that the party is expanding to every corner of the country, from North to South and East to West.
“The BJP has grown in Jammu and Kashmir, while in West Bengal we are forming the government in May. We are making a strong presence in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, besides gaining ground in Puducherry. In Assam, the BJP is going to form the government for a second consecutive term. The growth of the party is visible across the country and in this journey, the experience of Trivendra Singh Rawat will be used,” he said, adding that the role and responsibility of Rawat will be decided by the BJP parliamentary board.
“The BJP parliamentary board, the key decision making body of the party, will decide on the role and work for Rawat. He will be assigned work according to his experience, which will ultimately benefit the party,” he said.
According to BJP sources, Rawat may be assigned some organisational work at the national level or in some key states outside Uttarakhand. (IANS)