Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat likely to step down, say reports: A look at major controversies

Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat has sent his resignation to BJP chief JP Nadda, several reports said on Friday. Tirat Singh Rawat's 'resignation' has come barely four months after he took over from him predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Sources told News18 that the BJP is planning to elect a new legislature head tomorrow. Uttarakhand’s Legislature party meeting is likely to be held in the next 24 to 36 hours, and Tirat Singh Rawat is said to have asked for a meeting with Governor Baby Rani Maurya in Dehradun on Saturday, sources said.

The Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal needs to become a member of the state Assembly before 10 September to continue in office. While there two vacant Assembly seats in Uttarakhand — Gangotri and Haldwani — there are doubts over whether bypolls will be held as the term of the current Assembly is slated to end in March, less than a year from now.

It has also been reported that scathing criticism by the courts of the string of elections held during the pandemic may also contribute to the EC decision on Uttarakhand bypolls.

Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn-in as CM on 10 March is yet to complete four months in office. But ever since his appointment as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, he has been surrounded with controversies be it the outcry over some of statements to his government's handling of the Kumbh Mela during the pandemic to his remarks over "torn jeans" or a public spat involving him and former chief minister Tivendra Singh Rawat.

Here's taking a look at some of the controversies surrounding Tirat Singh Rawat since his appointment as Uttarakhand CM: 

• Remarks on 'ripped jeans': Tirath Singh had also received flak from various quarters for his comments on 'ripped jeans'. Just days after assuming office, Tirath Singh had said at an event that youngsters follow strange fashion trends due to a lack of values and consider themselves to be big shots after wearing jeans ripped at the knees. Women also follow such trends, he said and went on to describe the attire of a woman who sat next to him on a flight.Tirath Singh Rawat described her as wearing boots, jeans ripped at the knees, bangles in her hands and with two children travelling with her. He also said she runs an NGO, goes out in society and has two children and wondered what values she would give them.

Though he later apologised for his remarks,  he repeated his objection to ripped jeans, saying he has no problem with jeans with but wearing "torn" ones is "not right".

"India is doing better in terms of handling the crisis compared to other countries. America, who enslaved us for 200 years and ruled the world, is struggling in current times," Rawat said, confusing the United States of America with Britain.  "The sun never sets on us, they would say", Rawat added, clearly confusing America with the British Empire.

“(Government) assured every family gets 5 kilograms of ration per unit (during Covid time). The families which had 10 members got 50 kilograms. Those having 20 members got 100 kilograms and those families having 2 members got 10 kilograms. People stored ration and even sold it. The quality of rice was superb and people didn’t (expect) it,” the chief minister said.

Rawat had reportedly said: “Nobody will be stopped in the name of , as we are sure the faith in God will overcome the fear of the virus.” Just two days after making the remarks, the CM tested positive for on 23 March.

 

 "The devotees attending Kumbh are not from outside but our own people," he had said. "Most importantly, Kumbh is at the bank of the river Ganga. Maa Ganga's blessings are there in the flow. So there should be no corona," he had said, according to news agency ANI.

Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma had stayed the decision to permit residents of Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts to visit Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The court had rejected the state government's SOPs, saying they were just a copy of the guidelines issued during the Kumbh Mela.

The state government on Friday canceled the annual Kanwar Yatra to Haridwar due to the pandemic, reported ANI.

With inputs from agencies