Uttarkhand:BJP expels dismissed minister Harak Singh Rawat

BJP expelled and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has dismissed state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat from the Cabinet. CM Dhami had written to the Governor recommending that Harak Singh Rawat be removed from the Uttarakhand Cabinet. Harak Singh Rawat was among the ten MLAs who rebelled against Congress leader Harish Rawat in 2016 and switched to the BJP.  The BJP has removed Harak Singh Rawat from its primary membership for six years for anti-party activities. Party state president Madan Kaushik has confirmed that he has been removed from party membership due to indiscipline. The party will not tolerate indiscipline,”  In 2012, Rawat lost to Vijay Bahuguna in the race to the Chief Minister’s post and was inducted in the Cabinet.

Harak Singh Rawat is MLA from Kotdwar. According to sources, he is likely to join the Congress on Monday in the presence of Harish Rawat. He had been pushing for tickets for several of his family members and he has also been in touch with the Congress to return to the party, Elections in Uttarakhand will be held on February 14 with the counting of votes on March 10. Rawat was one of the nine Congress rebel legislators who in 2016 joined hands with the BJP against then Chief Minister Harish Rawat to dislodge his government. This happened after his persistent request for more departments such as PWD and Power was turned down by the then Chief Minister. He won his first Assembly election in 1991 on a BJP ticket from Pauri and served as the youngest minister in the Kalyan Singh government in undivided Uttar Pradesh. He later joined the BSP. In 1998, Rawat switched to the Congress after being denied a ticket by the BSP and got elected as MLA from Lansdowne in 2002 and 2007. He was the Leader of Opposition in the state from 2007 to 2012.