Uttarakhand BJP chief Madan Kaushik hints new CM likely to be an MLA

After Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, state BJP president Madan Kaushik on Saturday that the new chief minister is likely to be a sitting MLA.

Speaking to ANI, Kaushik said that the new BJP legislature party leader will be elected at the legislature party meeting today.

"The supervisor and in-charge will reach here (Dehradun) today. In the legislature meet at 3 pm, we will elect the leader (CM). Post that, we will meet the Governor for government formation. It is possible that the CM will be among the MLAs," he said.

Tirath Singh Rawat resigned amid uncertainty over bypolls in Uttarakhand, which will face assembly elections early next year.

Kaushik further said that due to COVID-19, it was not possible to conduct polls and resignation was the only option.

"The Election Commission had no issue with conducting polls but due to COVID, it could not materialise. In such circumstances, the resignation was the only option," he added.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from his post on Friday. The resignation came less than four months after Tirath Singh Rawat took over as Chief Minister replacing Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Tirath Singh Rawat, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal, took over as the Chief Minister on March 10 this year. To continue as the chief minister, he had to be elected to the state assembly within six months since he was not an MLA.

Former Uttarakhand minister and Congress leader Navprabhat had earlier this week written to the Election Commission urging it to "clear the confusion" in the state regarding bypolls.

The Congress leader quoted Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates that the Election Commission fill the casual vacancies in state legislatures through bye-elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy, provided that the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is one year or more.