The Congress on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership of throwing Uttarakhand into political instability after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned as the chief minister, reported PTI.
Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from the post on Friday. He had taken oath on March 10 after his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat quit. Since Tirath Singh Rawat does not hold an Assembly seat, he had to be elected from one of the constituencies by September 10. He told reporters that his resignation was due to this requirement to get elected to the Assembly.
Holding an election amid the coronavirus pandemic was also being seen as a difficult proposition as the Election Commission ad faced criticism for conducting polls in four states and one Union Territory during the second wave.
The BJP will hold a legislature party meeting later on Saturday to elect a new chief minister.
Congress leader Harish Rawat noted that the state will have three BJP chief ministers in just four and a half years. “The BJP’s high drama in Dehradun is an insult to the people of Uttarakhand,” he said. “The prime minister [Narendra Modi] had promised to give a double-engine government, but the state only received different chief ministers and no development.”
On Friday, Harish Rawat had alleged that Tirath Singh Rawat’s reasons for resignation were a lie. “The reality is that by-elections have been held before in the same Covid-19 period,” Harish Rawat tweeted. “The by-election was held in Salt [Uttarakhand Assembly constituency], [and] the chief minister could have contested from there also. He could have contested from another place by asking some to resign.”
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda were responsible for the turmoil in the state. “This is BJP’s example of lust for power, political instability, sharing fruits of power and failure of leadership,” he alleged.
Uttarakhand Congress chief Pritam Singh said the people were hurt by the BJP’s attitude towards the state, where unemployment is high and the residents were left to fend for themselves.
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