Tirath Singh Rawat, Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal, was elected as leader of the BJP legislature party, paving the way for him to take over as chief minister of Uttarakhand, a day after Trivendra Singh Rawat stepped down from the top post. Tirath Singh will take oath as chief minister at 4 pm today.
His name was announced by outgoing chief minister Trivendra Singh after the legislature party meeting, which lasted around 30 minutes.
"I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the party chief who trusted me, a mere party worker who comes from a small village. I'd never imagined that I'd reach here. We'll make all efforts to meet people's expectations and take forward the work done in the last 4 years," Tirath Singh told news agency ANI.
This comes a day after Trivendra Singh resigned as the CM following disquiet in the BJP over his governance. He submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya at the Raj Bhawan upon his arrival from Delhi after meeting the central BJP leadership.
Who is Tirath Singh Rawat?
Tirath Singh is currently the BJP national secretary and Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal. He was the state BJP president from 2013-2015. He was also an MLA from Chaubattakhal constituency from 2012-17.
Tirath Singh was the first education minister of Uttarakhand in the Nityanand Swamy government in 2000​. According to reports, he began his political journey with the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morch. He has also served as an RSS pracharak from 1983 to 1988. And he is known to be close to former Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri​.
In 1997, he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, three years before Uttarakhand became a separate state.
