BJP struggles to find a safe seat for CM Tirath Singh Rawat in U’khand

CM Rawat, also an MP, seeking ‘safe seats’ to contest to enter Assembly

◗ THE CHIEF MINISTER’S frequent visits to the national capital to meet party leadership have also raised eyebrows within the party’s state unit

For the BJP, retaining power in Uttarakhand is not the only cause of concern for the party top brass after feedback from the ground suggests growing discontentment against the ruling party over various reasons, including Covid management, and the opposition Congress gaining strength.

After opting for a change of guard in the hill state earlier this year, apparently to boost its poll prospects, the BJP leadership is yet to sort out the issue of which “safe” assembly seat chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat, who is also an MP, should contest from to enter the state assembly. BJP’s decision to change its sitting chief minister Trivendra Rawat less than a year ahead of the assembly polls, has also given ammunition to the opposition camp to claim that the decision to replace Trivendra Rawat with Tirath Singh Rawat was an “admission of failure” by the ruling party.

Speculation is rife that the CM could contest from Gangotri constituency, which has been lying vacant after the death of BJP MLA Gopal Rawat. However, winning this seat with a “decent margin” seems to be a challenge for the BJP as the Congress is a strong contender on this seat. Some other BJP MLAs, it was learnt, have also offered to vacate their seat for the CM but the central leadership is vetting a “safe seat” for the CM. The CM needs to get elected to the state assembly by September.

The chief minister’s frequent visits to the national capital to meet party leadership have also raised eyebrows within the party’s state unit. Though his visits, sources said, are mainly to discuss the party’s preparedness for the assembly polls and state related issues, buzz in the Uttrakhand BJP is that one of the main reasons is to “seek central leadership intervention for finding a safe seat to contest.” While the chief minister, it was learnt, wants to contest from “safe seats” either from Srinagar or Gharwal, which falls in his home constituency, both constituencies are currently represented by senior leaders Dhan Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj, who have so far refused to vacate for the CM.