In a dramatic yet unsurprising turn of events,
Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation to state
governor Baby Rani Maurya at 11pm on Friday.

His resignation, though anticipated, was expected only
on Saturday morning. But in a surprising move, Rawat, along with his cabinet
colleagues, met the governor late night Friday and resigned.

Speaking to the media after submitting his resignation,
Rawat said, “Considering the constitutional crisis, I found it appropriate to
resign.”

A Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal, Rawat was sworn in
as chief minister on March 10 to replace Trivendra Singh Rawat.

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However, since Tirath Singh Rawat is not a member of
the Uttarakhand legislature, he needed to be elected into the assembly by
September 10 in accordance with Article 164(4) of the Indian Constitution.

The article reads: “a minister who for any period of
six consecutive months is not a member of the legislature of the state shall at
the expiration of that period cease to be a minister”.

However, the Election Commission is unlikely to hold
bypolls at this point in time because as per the Representation of the People
Act a by-election for a seat should not be held if the term of a House is less
than one year.

Uttarakhand is scheduled to go for polls next year, with the
current assembly’s term ending on March 23, 2022.

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Further, the Election Commission has also come under
criticism for holding elections amid a raging pandemic. With a number of
by-elections due to be conducted across the country, it was deemed extremely
unlikely for the commission to hold polls in Uttarakhand.

Consequently, Tirath Singh Rawat was prompted to
resign from his post reportedly by the BJP central leadership. The BJP
legislature party is scheduled to meet at 3pm on Saturday to decide on the next
chief minister of the state.