The BJP was thrown into turmoil on Tuesday after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from his post. His resignation came after several BJP MLAs and ministers reportedly complained of his style of functioning adding that the party may have to suffer electorally in the 2022 assembly polls.
Announcing his resignation, Rawat thanked his party leadership for the opportunity to lead Uttarakhand in the last four years as the state’s chief minister. “The BJP gave me the golden opportunity to serve as CM for four years. I was born in a small village. Only BJP gives so much respect and opportunity to someone who belongs to a simple family from a small village,” he was quoted by India Today.
The Congress has reacted swiftly to launch an attack on the BJP saying that replacing their chief minister will not change their electoral fortune in the next year’s crucial polls. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that he could ‘see a change in power happening’ adding that ‘even the BJP’s central leadership has admitted that its present government in the state could not do much.’ “No matter who they bring now they will not come back to power in 2022,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
The BJP defeated the Congress in the 2017 assembly polls. The next assembly elections are due in 2022. The current turmoil in the saffron party in the election year may not be good news for the BJP.