Uttarakhand CM Rawat meets Nadda again amid buzz of change of guard

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat met BJP president J P Nadda on Friday amid increasing buzz that the party may again go in for a change in the leadership in the state as the prospect of the Election Commission holding an assembly bypoll there looks uncertain.

Without commenting on the speculation about his fate, Rawat told reporters the party will take a call about its political strategy in the state, and noted that holding or not holding the bypoll is the EC's prerogative.

If Rawat quits to pave the way for another person, an MLA most probably, then he would have held the post for less than four months after the party brought him to replace Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Uttarakhand remained abuzz with speculation that the BJP could pick a new leader as CM Tirath Singh Rawat needs to be elected as an MLA by September 10 to continue in the post.

What has made matters more complicated for him is that the EC had recently deferred holding some Lok Sabha and assembly bypolls due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The poll panel had said it would not be appropriate to hold the electoral exercise till the pandemic situation improves significantly.

Rawat, currently a Lok Sabha member, had arrived in Delhi on Wednesday and had met Nadda on that night as well. He had also met Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said, adding that he had to postpone his departure to the state as the party leadership asked him to stay put.

The BJP has not made any comments regarding these developments.

Observers added that with the term of the assembly in any case coming to an end in less than a year, the EC is under no compulsion to order a bypoll for the vacant seats in Uttarakhand.

Scathing criticism by the courts of the string of elections held during the coronavirus pandemic may also contribute to the EC decision on Uttarakhand bypolls, it is felt.

Section 151A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 mandates the Election Commission to fill vacancies in Parliament and the state legislatures through bypolls within six months from the date of their occurrence, provided that the remainder of the term of the new member is one year or more.

The term of Uttarakhand Assembly is scheduled to come to an end in March, only about nine months away.