Who will be Uttarakhands next chief minister? BJP to decide today

Following Tirath Singh Rawat’s resignation as
Uttarakhand chief minister on late night Friday, the BJP legislature party has
scheduled a meeting of its members at 3pm on Saturday to decide on the next
chief minister of the state. The meeting will be chaired by BJP state president
Madan Kaushik.

Rawat, who was chief minister for barely four months, resigned
because he is not a member of the Uttarakhand legislature and is unlikely to
become one by September 10 when the six-month deadline since his swearing-in ends.

Also Read | Why did the Uttarakhand CM resign? To avert a constitutional crisis

“Considering the constitutional crisis, I found it
appropriate to resign,” Rawat said after submitting his resignation to
Uttarakhand governor Baby Rani Maurya on Friday.

With Rawat gone, the BJP legislature party will have
to select a new leader. As the term of the state assembly will come to an end
on March 23, 2022, the BJP is expected to select a leader from its MLAs to
avert the potential constitutional crisis that could have occurred with Rawat
as CM after September 10.

Also Read | Tirath Singh Rawat resigns as Uttarakhand chief minister

Some of the names in the running are: Uttarakhand’s
tourism minister Satpal Maharaj, Kaladhungi MLA Banshidhar Bhagat, Kotdwar MLA
Harak Singh Rawat and MLA from Srinagar Garhwal constituency Dhan Singh Rawat.

Whoever replaces Tirath Singh Rawat will be the third
chief minister of the state within one term and will hold the post for less
than a year. Tirath Singh Rawat himself was sworn in as chief minister to
replace Trivendra Singh Rawat earlier this year.