Uttarakhand C M Trivendra Singh Rawat resigns

In a surprize move,the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya amid political drama in the state. Addressing a press conference after resigning, Rawat said that it was a collective decision by the BJP that someone else should get a chance to serve as the next CM of Uttarakhand. "Serving the state for four years was a golden opportunity for me which the party gave me. Extremely thankful to the party for giving the opportunity to a man hailing from a small village," he added. The now-former CM added that a legislative party meeting would take place at 10 am on Wednesday after which his successor would be announced.

On Monday, Rawat met senior BJP leadership in Delhi amid complaints by a section of Uttarakhand BJP MLAs over his “style of governance.” Rawat met party chief JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and general secretary BL Santhosh. The assembly elctions in Uttarakhand are due next year in February. In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP came to power winning 57 seats in the 69-member assembly. The Congress, on the other hand, won just 11 seats. While the BJP increased its tally from 31 in 2012, the Congress' went down from 32.

Commenting on the resignation, former CM and Congress leader Harish Rawat said that the day's political developments were evidence that the BJP will not be able to come back to power. "I can see a change in power happening. Even the BJP's central leadership has admitted that its present government in the state could not do much. No matter who they bring now they will not come back to power in 2022," Harish Rawat said in a tweet.