Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn in as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand on Wednesday, a day after his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat submitted his resignation. At a function held in Raj Bhawan, Governor Baby Rani Maurya administered the oath of office to Tripath.
The Pauri Garhwal MP is the ninth chief minister of Uttarakhand.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Tirath, saying the new chief minister brings with him vast administrative, organisational experience.
Earlier in the day, Tirath was chosen as the leader of the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party, paving the way for his appointment as the new chief minister. His name was announced by outgoing chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat after the legislature party meeting, which lasted for around 30 minutes.
After the meeting, Tirath, accompanied by party MLAs and MPs, met the governor at the Raj Bhawan to stake his claim for forming the government. The ruling BJP has 56 MLAs in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly.
Tirath was the state BJP president from 2013-15 and is currently the party's national secretary. He was also an MLA from the Chaubattakhal constituency from 2012-17.
Though he has held important organisational positions both in the state and at the Centre, Tirath Singh Rawat is a first-time MP.
He defeated his political mentor and BJP veteran Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri's son Manish Khanduri of the Congress by over three lakh votes to win from the Pauri Garhwal seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With inputs from PTI