Trivendra Rawat to take oath as Uttarakhand CM

Long-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Trivendra Singh Rawat will take oath as the next Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on Saturday afternoon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah are likely to attend the grand ceremony at the Parade Grounds here.

Rawat will be sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of the hill state.

Party sources told IANS that six ministers were also likely to be sworn in with Rawat.

A former associate of Modi, Rawat was Agriculture Minister in the previous BJP government in Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

Elected from Doiwala, where he defeated Congress's Hira Singh Bisht with a margin of over 24,000 votes, Rawat is widely regarded in the party for his organisational skills.

He is also known as a 'Pracharak' (campaigner) in the RSS.

In the assembly elections, the BJP stunned the Congress by winning 57 of the 70 seats in Uttarakhand.

Rawat will be the fifth BJP Chief Minister in the state. The party formed its first government in the state in 2000 with Nityanand Swami as the first Chief Minister.

--IANS

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