Garhwal MP Tirath Rawat BJP surprise pick as Uttarakhand CM

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10

Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat was today sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, hours after he emerged as the BJP’s surprise choice for the post that had several state bigwigs in contention.

Outgoing CM Trivendra Singh Rawat announced his successor at a meeting of the BJP legislature party in Dehradun, following which Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath of office to Tirath Singh.

Though the names of at least half a dozen state ministers and MPs, including Dhan Singh Rawat, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Satpal Maharaj, Ajay Bhat and Anil Baluni, were doing the rounds, the selection of low-profile Tirath Singh surprised many.

With a year left for the Assembly elections, Tirath Singh (56) has a challenging path ahead. He has served in various capacities, including as state BJP president and the first education minister when Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh.

Never imagined will reach here

“As someone coming from a small village, I never imagined that someday I will be given such a huge responsibility. I am just a small BJP ‘karyakarta’ (worker).” Tirath Singh Rawat, CM

Having his roots in the ABVP and the RSS and enjoying a clean image, the BJP central leadership is learnt to have weighed in Tirath Singh’s favour in view of the prevailing political situation and the caste and regional balance.

Interestingly, in the last Assembly elections in 2017, state Cabinet Minister Satpal Maharaj was given the ticket from Chaubattakhal seat instead of Tirath Singh. There were reports about him feeling disappointed, but nothing of the sort was made public by him. “He accepted the decision without any fuss,” say sources. In 2019, he was fielded from the Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency in place of former CM BS Khanduri.

Tirath Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda for entrusting him with the important assignment.

Regarding the challenges before him, including steering the BJP to victory in the next elections, he said, “The challenges are always there in life. I will fulfil my duties with complete responsibility”.

Observers Raman Singh and Dushyant Gautam, who were sent by the state leadership to gauge the mood, had flagged the MLAs’ resentment over Trivendra Singh’s “style of functioning and lack of control over the bureaucrats”.

Some in the party even said that Trivendra Singh’s “uninspiring” leadership had the potential to damage the BJP’s prospects in 2022.

Prime Minister Modi, Shah and Nadda congratulated Tirath Singh on taking oath as the new CM of Uttarakhand. “He brings with him vast administrative and organisational experience. I am confident under his leadership the state will continue to scale new heights of progress,” the PM said. State president Bansidhar Bhagat described him as someone connected with the grassroots and who understood the organisation well.

Task cut out — tackling anti-incumbency, leading party to polls

• The onus now is on Tirath Singh Rawat to lead BJP to victory in the 2022 state polls
• Will have to counter anti-incumbency in a short span of less than a year
• Performance pressure as only one of 8 CMs completed tenure in state’s 20-yr history
• Will have to “control bureaucrats”, something his predecessor allegedly couldn’t

5th CM from Pauri region

Tirath Singh is the fifth CM from the crucial Pauri region. Others were BP Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Vijay Bahuguna and Trivendra Singh Rawat