Uttarakhand Chief Minister resigns

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has resigned as part of the BJP’s course-correction in the state a year ahead of polls. His exit was certain after his trip yesterday to Delhi, where he had met with the BJP leadership.
Mr Rawat, 60, handed in his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya just days short of completing four years in power.

One of his ministers, Dhan Singh Rawat, is widely tipped to replace him as Chief Minister. Dhan Singh Rawat, who was in Garhwal, took a private chopper to state capital Dehradun this afternoon.

Trivendra Singh Rawat had several meetings in Delhi with the BJP leadership, who reportedly received feedback from party MLAs in Uttarakhand that the Chief Minister’s below par performance would cost the party in polls due by February.

The move to replace him a year before elections is unusual, given that it is often seen as a vote of no-confidence by the party in its own government.

Mr Rawat’s government had been under scrutiny over its handling of the Chamoli flash flood. Its move to push for work on projects suspended by the Supreme Court was criticised.

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Yesterday, before meeting with Mr Rawat, BJP chief JP Nadda held talks with Home Minister Amit Shah and senior BJP leader BL Santosh on the situation in the hill state.

Talk of a leadership change in Uttarakhand intensified after two central party observers, Raman Singh and Dushyant Gautam, were sent to Dehradun on Saturday for an assessment.

The two leaders spoke to MLAs, ministers and also with the Chief Minister and leaders of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), the ideological mentor of the BJP. Their report to the party president apparently recommended change and damage control. Reports say they are heading back to Dehradun and a meeting of MLAs may take place tomorrow to choose a new Chief Minister.

Many MLAs had reportedly told the leaders said the BJP does not stand a chance of being re-elected under Mr Rawat’s leadership.

Mr Rawat’s critics accused him of failing to communicate with them or take everyone along. The low profile politician also upset many in his party with his style of functioning. MLAs reportedly flagged to the party that the Chief Minister had been ranked “below average” by some opinion polls.