Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday evening took oath as the chief minister of Uttarakhand, ANI reported. This came a day after Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from the post.
“I thank PM [prime minister], HM [home minister] and party chief who trusted me, a mere party worker who comes from a small village,” said Tirath Singh Rawat after taking oath, according to News18. “I’d never imagined that I’d reach here. We’ll make all efforts to meet people’s expectations and take forward work done in last four years.”
Tirath Singh Rawat is currently the BJP MP from Pauri Garhwal constituency and a national secretary of the party. He was earlier the chief of the saffron party in Uttarakhand between 2013 and 2015 and has served as an MLA from Chaubattakhal constituency from 2012 to 2017, according to PTI.
The party chose him over other senior leaders, including Union minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Uttarakhand minister Dhan Singh Rawat.
The decision to appoint him chief minister was taken at a meeting of BJP leaders in Dehradun, according to News18. His name was chosen as the leader of Uttarakhand BJP legislature party in the meeting, paving the way for him becoming the new chief minister of the hill state. His name was announced by outgoing chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, PTI reported.
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Tirath Singh Rawat thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda, ANI reported. “I had never imagined that I would reach here,” Tirath Singh Rawat said. “We will make all efforts to meet people’s expectations and take forward work done in last 4 years.”
Trivendra Rawat had on Tuesday said he would quit after he met Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya. The development came amid speculation that the party wanted a change in the state’s leadership after complaints from MLAs about the chief minister’s “style of governance”.
“The party gave me a golden opportunity to serve this state for four years,” Trivendra Rawat had said on Tuesday. “I had never thought that I would get such an opportunity. The party has decided that the opportunity to serve as chief minister should be given to someone else now.”
Trivendra Rawat was announced as the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate after the party swept the elections in 2017, winning 57 of 70 seats in the state Assembly. He had won the Assembly elections from Doiwala.
The 60-year-old was one of the three deputies Union Home Minister Amit Shah worked with in Uttar Pradesh before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Rawat served the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, from 1983 to 2002.
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