Uttarakhand CM resigns a year ahead of assembly polls

Dakshita Bhatia On March 9, 2021 17:50 IST

the indian express

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya. Amid reports of disquiet within the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit, Rawat resigned on March 9.

Rawat, 60, who would have completed four years in office next week, handed his resignation in Dehradun, according to reports. It now remains to be seen if his resignation is accepted.

BJP leaders including Dhan Singh Rawat, Ajay Bhatt, and Anil Baluni are front runners to replace the incumbent CM. But, sources said, the final decision on replacing Rawat would be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Rawat is the second BJP chief minister, after Gujarat’s Anandiben Patel, since 2014 to resign ahead of the tenure completion. Anandiben’s removal was, however, attributed to her old age.

Rawat was summoned to New Delhi two days after an unscheduled core committee meeting of the state unit of BJP. This fueled speculations about a possible change in guard in the state amid discontent within a section of the party MLAs and MPs over his style of functioning.

The BJP came to power by bagging 57 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand legislative assembly in 2017.

BJP CM Rawat Uttarakhand