Harish Rawat sworn in as new Uttarakhand CM
3 Feb 2014 4:42 AM IST
65-year-old Rawat was administered the oath of office by Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhawan lawns along with a 11-member Cabinet all of whom were ministers in the Bahuguna government.
Rawat’s name was approved by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior party leader Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here after a five-hour-long meeting of the Congress Legislature Party. Rawat was union cabinet minister for water resources.
His appointment comes at a time when Congress is trying to salvage its image in the hill state. Bahuguna, who resigned on Friday, has drawn intense criticism for the way he handled last year’s devastating floods and relief and rescue work.
In the 70-member assembly, Congress has 33 members and has the support of seven-member PDF including three BSP, one UKD and three Independent MLAs. BJP has 30 MLAs.
The PDF, which has four ministers in the outgoing Bahuguna ministry, has pressed for additional ministerial berths in the new government. Rawat pipped two other front runners for the top post -senior party leader Indira Hridayesh and member of Bahuguna’s cabinet Pritam Singh.
Spelling out his priorities, Rawat said it would be definitely to pull the state out of the fallout of the 2013 catastrophic flashfloods.
Rawat’s name was approved by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior party leader Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here after a five-hour-long meeting of the Congress Legislature Party. Rawat was union cabinet minister for water resources.
His appointment comes at a time when Congress is trying to salvage its image in the hill state. Bahuguna, who resigned on Friday, has drawn intense criticism for the way he handled last year’s devastating floods and relief and rescue work.
In the 70-member assembly, Congress has 33 members and has the support of seven-member PDF including three BSP, one UKD and three Independent MLAs. BJP has 30 MLAs.
The PDF, which has four ministers in the outgoing Bahuguna ministry, has pressed for additional ministerial berths in the new government. Rawat pipped two other front runners for the top post -senior party leader Indira Hridayesh and member of Bahuguna’s cabinet Pritam Singh.
Spelling out his priorities, Rawat said it would be definitely to pull the state out of the fallout of the 2013 catastrophic flashfloods.
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