Uttarakhand CM Tirath Rawat meets Nadda for 2nd time, fuels speculation amid ‘deep divisions’ in state unit

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 2

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand scheduled next year, political activities have started in full force in the BJP. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat, who is in Delhi since Wednesday, today met BJP chief JP Nadda again.

Tirath Singh, who also met Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda on Wednesday night, said today’s discussions were regarding development works and preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections. Regarding the Uttarakhand by-elections, which he is supposed to contest, the CM said it was the decision of the Election Commission. “We will move forward on whatever the Centre (ECI) decides,” he said

Meanwhile, amid the buzz regarding “some other senior leaders from Uttarakhand have also being called over Delhi”, party leaders insisted that “only Tirath Singh met the Central leadership and that too regarding the by-elections”.

Observers, however, are reading more into the ongoing political developments amid reports of “deep divisions” in various factions and the “three-CM jinx”, the BJP faced in its earlier tenure in the state. In fact, not just the BJP, apart from ND Tiwari, no other Congress CM has been able to complete his term in Uttarakhand.

While Tirath Singh’s visit to Delhi is being read in context with the legal bind he faces over his election to the state Assembly before September, the speculation is pointing towards an entirely different direction.

Seemingly, getting Tirath Singh elected to the Uttrakhand Assembly is the least of the problems the BJP appears to be facing in the poll-bound state.

Apart from the worries that Tirath Singh may lose his four-month-old job if the by-elections are not held in time, sources say the BJP may land in a bigger bind if he ends up losing the elections given the current situation in the state.

The party also appears to be worried over the fate of the Lok Sabha seat that Tirath Singh will vacate to contest the Assembly election, either Gangotri or Haldwani. Rawat, who has to become a member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly by September 10, has not yet resigned from the Garhwal Lok Sabha seat he was elected to in 2019.

Rawat took charge of Uttrakhand in March following “allegations of corruption and discontent” against then-CM Trivendra Rawat. Sources say state leaders responsible for his removal are again “sending feelers to the leadership against Tirath Singh as well. Apparently, Trivendra Singh too has become politically “active” of late.

Also, Tirath Singh has been facing flak over a series of controversies triggered by his statements and handling of the Kumbh Mela during the second wave of the Covid pandemic.

Meanwhile, Tirath Singh has left for Dehradun. Sources claim that he has also asked the Governor for an appointment.