Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday, 10 March took oath as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, after his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat stepped down on Tuesday amid rising political turmoil in the state.
Soon after the announcement of his appointment on Wednesday, Tirath Singh Rawat met Governor Baby Rani Maurya in Dehradun.
“I thank the prime minister, Home Minister (Amit Shah) and party chief (JP Nadda) who trusted me, a mere party worker who comes from a small village. I had never imagined that I would reach here. We will make all efforts to meet people’s expectations and take forward the work done in the last four years,” Tirath Singh said while speaking to the media, as quoted by ANI.
The announcement came after a 30-minute meeting held by the BJP legislature party to choose Trivendra Singh Rawat’s successor. The meeting was held on Wednesday morning at the party office on Balbir Road. Central observer Raman Singh and state party incharge Dushyant Gautam were also present at the meeting to oversee the appointment of the new chief minister.
BJP-ruled Uttarakhand is 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.
Who is Tirath Singh Rawat?
Currently an MP from Pauri Garhwal and the BJP national secretary, Tirath Singh Rawat was the BJP state unit chief from 2013-2015.
A Garhwali Thakur, Rawat is believed to be close to Home Minister Amit Shah and has been closely associated with the RSS in his early political career.
Formerly the state vice president of Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, he was elected as member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1997 and later became its president.
He was the MLA from the Chaubattakhal constituency from 2012 to 2017.
He later became the first education minister of the newly formed state of Uttarakhand. He was elected as the MP from Pauri in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
PM Modi, Others Congratulate Tirath Singh Rawat
Soon after he took oath, Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Rawat.
“Congratulations to Shri @TIRATHSRAWAT on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He brings with him vast administrative and organisational experience. I am confident under his leadership the state will continue to scale new heights of progress. (sic).”
Union Minister Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar and Vijay Goel too took to Twitter to congratulate Rawat and wished him luck for taking over the post.
Trivendra Singh Rawat’s Resignation
Addressing the media, Trivendra Singh Rawat thanked the party on Tuesday 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, reported ANI.
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