The BJP on Saturday was forced to change the Uttarakhand Chief Minister for the third time in four months as the Hindutva party prepare itself for the next year’s assembly polls in the hilly state. Hours after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from his post, the BJP declared 45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami his successor.
While the BJP has said that the reason for Tirath Singh Rawat’s unceremonious ouster was due to his inability to contest assembly polls, analysts say that the BJP feared losing next year’s polls under his leadership.
Dhami has inherited a host of problems and will find it increasingly difficult to sail the BJP boat to the shore in the next assembly polls. Local voters are getting increasingly disenchanted by the poor governance in the BJP’s rule in the last four years. The BJP whad found itself at the centre of criticism for allowing the Kumbh Mela to go ahead in Haridwar, where 10 million gathered earlier this year.
The Kumbh Mela acted as a major superspreader in worsening the coronavirus pandemic, which killed hundreds of thousands of people across India. The BJP government remained in denial for many weeks despite criticism and did nothing to stop the Kumbh Mela. The state had to cancel its annual Char Dham yatra, a major attraction for tourists, due to the ongoing pandemic. This only compounded the economic woes in the state.
Dhami said that he was confident of overcoming the existing challenges as he promised to carry forward the work of his predecessors and serve people with all dedication. The two-term MLA is considered to be close to Maharashtra Governor and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
The BJP had named Trivendra Singh Rawat as Uttarakhand Chief Minister in 2017 when it defeated the Congress in the assembly polls. However, it unceremoniously replaced him with Tirath Singh Rawat four months ago keeping the next year’s assembly polls in mind. Now the saffron party has been forced to change its chief for the third time within a span of cour months.