Uttarakhand CM Rawat faces an uphill task a year ahead of Assembly polls

Rawat has crossed the big hurdle of expanding his cabinet. A couple of MLAs might be sulking for not getting a berth but there is no revolt

“Lathi dande hamne khaye aur malai ab BJP aur Congress wale kha rahe hain [we were beaten up (during the statehood agitation) and now the cream is being taken away by BJP and Congress people]” — this is a refrain one hears from statehood activists in Uttarakhand. This is true in a way that most of the chief ministers and ministers in the present and the previous governments in the hill state were not actively involved in the statehood agitation.

Even the late N D Tiwari, who became chief minister following the first election after the formation of the state, was