Uttarakhand Crisis: CM Trivendra Rawat submits resignation to Governor

New Delhi Mar 09: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Tuesday with the BJP mulling a change of leadership in Uttarakhand. State minister Dhan Singh Rawat has emerged as a frontrunner to replace Trivenrdra Singh Rawat as chief minister.

Reportedly, the party may also bring in a deputy chief minister, who will be from the Kumaon region. Pushkar Singh Dhami is likely to be deputy chief minister.

The central BJP leadership recently sent two observers, party vice president Raman Singh and general secretary Dushayant Kumar Gautam, to the state to get feedback from party's core group in the state amid report of discontent against the chief minister.

However, senior party leaders discounted the possibility of any leadership change in the state while acknowledging that a section of Uttarakhand leaders may have issues with the chief minister.

BJP MP Ajay Bhatt, a senior party leader from the state, told PTI that "all is well" in the state and added that the two central leaders had visited Uttarakhand regarding preparations for the three-day state BJP executive meeting from March 12 and the Rawat government''s fourth anniversary on March 18.

Gautam had also spoken on similar lines on Sunday.

The state BJP on Monday said there has been no formal announcement about any meeting of the legislature party in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

"As far as my knowledge goes, no formal announcement has been made yet about any state legislature party meeting here tomorrow," state BJP Chief Spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan told PTI in Dehradun.

However, when asked whether a major change was in the offing as the sudden turn of events on the political front in Uttarakhand indicated, Chauhan briefly said, "Let us see."

He said the chief minister would return to Dehradun at noon on Tuesday.

A section of state leaders are reportedly miffed with Rawat''s leadership and are of the view that the party''s electoral prospects under him may not be very bright.

The party may also go for a cabinet reshuffle in the state, sources said.

Rawat was named the chief ministerial candidate by the BJP after it stormed to power in 2017, winning 57 of 70 seats in the state assembly.