DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat left for New Delhi to meet the BJP central leadership on Wednesday, triggering specualtion of a change in leadership in the next two weeks. All his prior engagements for the day were cancelled as he headed to the national capital where the Uttarakhand chief minister is likely to meet senior leaders Amit Shah and Anil Baluni.
“The CM was called by the central leadership to discuss by-elections. But there are whispers about leadership change also. The Kumbh fake testing scam is also one of the major issues (for the call),” said a party source. According to the Assembly rules, Rawat needs to be elected by September 10. At present, Rawat, who was sworn on March 10, is the MP from Pauri Lok Sabha seat.
For many in the party, it was a sense of deja vu. Almost the same sequence of events played out in March when the then CM Trivendra Singh Rawat was called up by the central leadership. Later, he was removed and the incumbent CM was installed in an abrupt manner.
Interestingly, the party concluded three-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ on Tuesday which will be a monthly affair focused on the state elections due next year. Earlier in March after the new chief minister was sworn in, rumours had circulated that the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled in March 2022 could be held in Augustthis year. The party leadership had to step in to clarify that there was no such plans.
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