Trivendra Rawat to be sworn-in as U'khand CM tomorrow

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand on Friday elected Trivendra Singh Rawat as its legislative party leader, thereby clearing the decks for him to take over as the state's next Chief Minister.

Rawat, who will be administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Krishna Kant Paul at the Raj Bhavan in Dehradun tomorrow, will succeed Congress leader Harish Rawat to become the eighth Chief Minister of the hill state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will attend the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow.

"Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will attend swearing-in ceremony tomorrow," BJP's Uttarakhand in-charge Shyam Jaju told ANI.

Meanwhile, Rawat along with the BJP MLAs and central observer J. P Nadda has reached the Raj Bhawan here to stake claim to form the next government in the state.

Rawat defeated Congress' Hira Singh Bisht in the Doiwala constituency with a margin of over 24,000 votes.

The 56-year-old BJP leader, who holds a masters degree in journalism, is currently in-charge of the party's Jharkhand unit.

He was elected to the assembly for the third time and was state agriculture minister in 2007-2012.

Rawat, who is considered to be close to BJP chief Amit Shah, was given responsibility of regional election in-charge during 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP emerged victorious.

The BJP won with a clear majority in the state with 57 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly, thereby ousting the Congress that managed to win just 11 seats this time.