Trivendra Singh Rawat sworn in as Uttarakhand chief minister, 4 former Congressmen in cabinet

BJP’s Trivendra Singh Rawat took oath of office as chief minister of Uttarakhand.

BJP’s Trivendra Singh Rawat was on Saturday sworn-in as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand. He was administered the oath of office by Governor Krishna Kant Paul. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and a host of senior party leaders and Union Cabinet Ministers attended the oath-taking ceremony of Rawat, a long-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist.

Former Congressmen Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Subodh Uniyal and Yashpal Arya were sworn into the cabinet. Dhan Singh Rawat and Congress rebel Rekha Arya are the two ministers of state inducted into the cabinet. 56-year-old Trivendra Rawat, who has been elected for the third time from the the Doiwala assembly seat in the state, was chosen to be the chief minister on Friday. CM Trivendra Rawat will hold his first cabinet meeting at 4:30 pm today.

As soon as the BJP won a clear majority in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections securing 57 seats for itself while reducing Congress party tally to 11, speculations were rife about who would be the next chief minister of the state. Doiwala MLA Trivendra Singh Rawat’s name was finalised at meeting attended by Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, BJP general secretary Saroj Pandey and BJP’s state in-charge Shyam Jaju and newly-elected BJP MLAs.

Rawat, who had been an RSS activist from 1983 to 2002, held the position of organising secretary of the Uttarakhand region at first and later the state. He reportedly has close ties with BJP president Amit Shah and has worked with him in Uttar Pradesh before the general elections of 2014.