After the CM for the previous four months, Tirath Singh Rawat is believed to have submitted his resignation to BJP President JP Nadda the BJP would pick a current MLA as their next Chief Minister in Uttarakhand.
The nomination of Tirath Singh Rawat, a sitting MP from the state, as CM to succeed Trivendra Singh Rawat in March was a peculiar choice because there was always the possibility of a by-poll being called in the state, as per the regulations.
Rawat assumed office as chief minister on March 10 and had to be elected as an MLA within six months to stay in office, since the state assembly’s tenure ends on March 23, 2022.
According to Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, a by-poll is not held in a state if the member’s term expires in less than a year, which in Uttarakhand’s case is March 23, 2022.
Two by-poll vacancies arose in Uttarakhand in April and June this year after incumbent MLAs from Gangotri and Haldwani died, but with less than a year until the elections, a by-poll to any of the seats appeared improbable.
The BJP is now apologising for its ‘mistake’ with Rawat, and names of current MLAs and ministers such as Satpal Maharaj, Banshidar Bhagat, Harak Singh Rawat, and Dhan Singh Rawat are being floated as potential new CMs.
Bishan Chaupal and Pushkar Singh Dhami, both from the Kumaon area, might be a surprise pick. Madan Kaushik, the BJP’s state president, is from the Garhwal area.
The rotating CMs phenomenon, on the other hand, has proven humiliating for the BJP, since it will have had three CMs in the past year of elections, sending a message that all is not well inside the party in Uttarakhand.
Harish Rawat, a former Congress chief minister, stated that the BJP has little knowledge of the state. Recent scandals, like as the widespread false testing scandal during the Kumbh, have tarnished the state government’s reputation.
Uttarakhand went to the polls on February 15, 2017, and is scheduled to do so again next year in the same month.
