Highlights:
- Rawat resigned on Tuesday, nine days before the BJP completes four-years as a government in Uttarakhand
- The resignation came after a backlash from Rawat’s decision to create a new administrative division in Gairsain
- For the CM post, Dhan Singh Rawat, Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni names have been emerged
Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, resigned on Tuesday, nine days before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments completed their four-years in power. Here’s what you need to know about why the step was made:
• According to party leaders, Rawat’s decision to name Gairsain as a new administrative division sparked a revolt within the ranks.
• BJP leaders familiar with the situation say the state’s political turmoil began on Friday, when Rawat declared Gairsain as the state’s third administrative division without consulting his cabinet colleagues.
• A minister described it as a unilateral announcement with significant political repercussions because people in Kumaon were opposing of such move.
• Rawat’s inability to communicate with the party’s leadership is thought to have worked against him.
• Other party leaders claim that resentment of Rawat’s management style was growing within the party.
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• In the last few days, at least 13 lawmakers have written to the party’s central leadership criticising Rawat’s work style and accusing him of not listening to them.
• In a letter to Nadda in December last year, former Uttarakhand BJP chief Bishan Singh Chuphal wrote, “Bureaucrats are running the country, and we are not being heard.”
• Rawat was summoned from Gairsain to Dehradun for an emergency core committee meeting on Saturday, with 45 of the party’s 56 MLAs in presence.
• One of the party leaders said, “He was clearly told he was going to be replaced, and there was increasing anger against him.”
• According to a central BJP leader, Rawat was replaced because an internal party poll showed the BJP was losing ground in the state because of him, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.
• According to Dushyant Gautam, the BJP’s in-charge of Uttarakhand, Rawat will be integrated into the national BJP, and will have significant responsibilities.
• Governor Baby Rani Maurya accepted his resignation and ordered him to remain in office until the new chief minister is appointed.
• Rawat was the state’s tenth chief minister since its inception in 2000, with ND Tiwari of the Congress being the only one to serve a full five-year term.
• The new team will have less than a year to make up lost ground until the March-April 2022 assembly elections.
• His replacement will be decided by the BJP on Wednesday.
• The front runners for the spot are state minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni, and Lok Sabha member Ajay Bhatt.
• A meeting of party legislators has been called on Wednesday in Dehradun to elect a new legislative party leader, who will then be sworn in as the new chief minister.
