Won’t contest polls, says Harak Singh after being removed as labour board’s chairman

Dehradun

: After being removed from the post of chairman of the state labour welfare board, state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat on Friday announced that he won’t contest the state assembly polls in 2022.

While Rawat claimed to have already informed his decision to senior office-bearers of BJP, state party president Bansidhar Bhagat told TOI that he had no idea what made Rawat to say so. “He is a senior leader and a cabinet minister. We will speak to him and get a clear understanding of the matter,” Bhagat said.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media at his residence on Friday, Rawat said, “I do not want to contest the assembly polls in 2022. I have already conveyed my wish to the party’s top bosses in Uttarakhand and in Delhi. But I am not saying that I am leaving politics. I will remain loyal to BJP and will do what the party would say.”

The sudden announcement by the forest minister, who has consistently won the assembly elections that he has contested in the past, is being seen by many as his way of expressing displeasure at the manner in which the labour welfare board post was taken away from him without giving him any prior notice. However, the minister chose to downplay the issue saying that it was the prerogative of the CM as to who he wanted to appoint for the post. He however added that he will be speaking to the CM about it.