Trouble for BJP govt in Uttarakhand? CM Trivendra Singh Rawat to meet top brass in Delhi amid change in guard talks

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. (Source: Twitter)

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat’s visit to New Delhi two days after an unscheduled core committee meeting of the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fueled speculations about a possible change in guard in the hill state.

Rawat, who completes four years in office on March 18, flew to New Delhi on March 8 after being summoned by the party’s top leadership, amid discontent within a section of the party MLAs and MPs over his style of functioning, sources said.

The visit comes after a sudden meeting of Uttarakhand BJP's core committee was presided over by the party’s national vice president and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on March 6. Singh landed in Uttarakhand on the same day along with state BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam.

The reports of the political crisis were further validated when the Budget session of Uttarakhand Assembly was on March 6 adjourned sine die in summer capital Gairsain, a day before schedule. Rawat, many state ministers, and MLAs flew from Gairsain to Dehradun in choppers. Rawat left the meeting even as Raman Singh and Dushyant Kumar Gautam continued with other leaders and MLAs, according to the reports.

Though BJP leaders have downplayed the hurriedly-conveyed meeting asserting that Rawat’s government will complete its five-year term, Congress took a dig at the ‘political crisis’.

“There are reports of political instability in Uttarakhand. Some leaders (of BJP) are in Dehradun, some in Delhi, others in Mumbai. People will never forgive BJP for all their instability,” said Congress leader and former chief minister Harish Rawat after the BJP meeting.

State BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat has said that the core committee meeting did not discuss anything related to change in guard in the state.

Sources, however, said the chief minister has been summoned by the top leadership in Delhi based on Raman Singh’s feedback and seriousness of the situation.

BJP came to power by bagging 57 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand legislative in  2017.