Uttarakhand CM sacks tourism minister

Dehradun, May 19 (IANS) Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat was Monday dismissed by Chief Minister Harish Rawat. 

Amrita Rawat is the wife of Satpal Maharaj, who was a senior state Congress leader but crossed over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) just before the Lok Sabha elections.

While it was speculated then that Rawat would quit the government, she chose not to.

Satpal Maharaj had said he was not interested in toppling the Congress government.

Soon after her dismissal, Amrita Rawat Monday lashed out at the chief minister and referring to the resignation offer of his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi for the Congress’s poll debacle in the state, asked Harish Rawat to emulate him and step down.

"The Congress has lost all the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand. Harish Rawat should own moral responsibility and resign," Amrita Rawat said.