Uttarakhand: Congress calls Rawat's resignation due to constitutional compulsion 'big lie'

After Tirath Singh Rawat offered his resignation as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Veteran Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat on Friday said Rawat's resignation as CM due to constitutional compulsion and byelections cannot be held in the state due to COVID-19 is the biggest lie. He also slammed the BJP for giving three Chief Ministers to Uttarakhand in five years. 

"What can be a bigger lie than this that byelections cannot be held in Uttarakhand due to COVID and the Chief Minister is resigning due to constitutional compulsion. The reality is that byelections have been held before in the same COVID period. The byelection has been held in Salt (an assembly constituency in Uttarakhand). The CM could have contested from there also," tweeted Harish Rawat.

The former CM added, "By making resignations of others from anywhere else, he could contest elections from there. But due to the lack of complete knowledge of the law, another Chief Minister has been imposed on the state. In five years, BJP is giving three Chief Ministers to Uttarakhand."

"The Uttarakhand BJP, which came to power in 2017, has made the position of its two leaders ridiculous, both are good men. It was decided to replace  Tirath Singh Rawat ji in the middle of the budget session, while the finance department was also with him, he had to answer the discussion and debate on the budget," he said in another tweet. 

 Tirath Singh Rawat Resigns

Tirath Singh Rawat resigned as chief minister of Uttarakhand on Friday. He submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya hours after he addressed a press conference. Tirath Singh Rawat is MP from Garhwal.

"I have submitted my resignation to Governor. Given the constitutional crisis, I felt it was right for me to resign. I am thankful to the central leadership and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for every opportunity they have given to me so far," Rawat said.

The resignation came less than four months after Tirath Singh Rawat took over as Chief Minister replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat.

According to sources, Tirath Singh Rawat has been replaced as the CM because the assembly elections will be held in Uttarakhand in the next six-seven months, while Tirath Singh Rawat has completed only four months of his tenure. Moreover, it is being said that the next CM would be an MLA and not an MP as Tirath Singh was. If sources are to be believed, there will be a meeting of MLAs, who will take a call on the next Chief Minister and not the party leadership. Sources have also said that there could be a possible Cabinet rejig. Earlier, there was speculation over a possible change of guard in the state which was fuelled by Tirath Singh Rawat being summoned suddenly on Wednesday to Delhi. He met the BJP’s top leaders including party president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

(With Agency Inputs)