Why BJP decided to remove Trivendra Rawat as Uttarakhand chief minister

NEW DELHI: In a surprising turn of events, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday tendered his resignation to the state governor and joined the long list of BJP leaders whose tenures were cut short in the hill state due to infighting.


The BJP's decision to axe Rawat came as a surprise as it marked a departure from the party's usual norm of ignoring calls from state satraps against its choice of chief ministers.

There have been several instances in the past of BJP ignoring calls for change of leadership midway.

However, with

Uttarakhand

heading for the assembly polls early next year, the BJP top brass paid heed to growing complaints against Rawat from a section of MLAs.

According to news agency PTI, the BJP decided to give in to the demands of disgruntled leaders since it did not want a repeat of Jharkhand, where former chief minister

Raghubar Das

's "indifferent" image led to its ultimate defeat in the 2020 assembly elections.

In the run up to the Jharkhand assembly elections, several state leaders had insisted on changing Raghubar Das as the chief minister. However, the BJP top brass rallied behind him.

In Uttarakhand, several heavyweights, including those who had jumped ship from the Congress, had complained that Rawat was indifferent towards their concerns.

Some of them had pointed out that his public image remained unimpressive.

The BJP legislature party will pick its new leader on Wednesday, and Rawat's replacement is set to be a choice of its central leadership which had earlier elicited views of its state MLAs by sending its vice president Raman Singh and general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam there.

If the party decides to replace its outgoing Thakur chief minister with another Thakur, the most populous caste in the state, then minister Dhan Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj are being seen among the likely choices, while Anil Baluni and Ajay Bhatt, both MPs and Brahmins, are also being considered as frontrunners.

With a view to balance the aspirations of Garhwal and Kumaon regions, the party may also go for a deputy chief minister, sources said.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, who resigned on Tuesday, has become the first chief minister to be axed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the party's preeminent leader in 2014.

Often in the past, the party had snubbed any lobbying by state MLAs against incumbent chief minister while preferring to keep a sharper vigil on the state government's works.

However, the loss in Jharkhand despite what the party believes had been good work by the state government headed by Das has apparently made it rethink its strategy. Whether this will embolden dissidents in other states ruled by the party remains to be seen.

In Uttarakhand, no chief minister, barring ND Tiwari, has completed a full term.

Both BJP and Congress have changed chief minister before elections, but the change never helped them in the ensuing polls.

(With inputs from PTI)
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