With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mulling a change of leadership in Uttarakhand, current chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, may be replaced by state minister Dhan Singh Rawat, according to PTI. Rawat was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from 1979 to 2002, and is the eight chief minister of the state.

Rawat held the post of organising secretary of the Uttarakhand region and continued with the responsibilities after the state was formed in 2000, according to the official website of Uttarakhand chief minister. 

In 2002, Rawat was elected from Doiwala in the Uttarakhand’s first legislative assembly elections. After retaining his seat in the 2007 elections, Rawat served as the State’s Minister of Agriculture.

Rawat had served as Jharkhand’s in-charge and Uttarakhand cadre’s president. After winning from Doiwala again in 2017, he was named the chief minister after BJP won the majority. 

Tuesday’s development come after the central BJP leadership recently sent two observers, party vice president Raman Singh and general secretary Dushayant Kumar Gautam to the state  to get feedback from the party’s core group following reports of discontent against Rawat.