In a major change of leadership in Uttarakhand, the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to replace the chief minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, with his predecessor, Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, because of the ongoing charges of corruption surrounding the state government.
Senior leaders said both Khanduri and senior leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari (also a former CM) had joined hands against Nishank. “The two leaders have been pressurising the BJP leadership to act against Nishank. Khanduri was also holding rallies and public meetings against Nishank after charges of corruption started against the chief minister,” said a senior BJP leader.
The decision regarding the change of guard was taken by the BJP parliamentary board after senior leaders met at the residence of party president Nitin Gadkari this evening.
“The BJP is not in favour of contesting the forthcoming assembly elections under the leadership of Nishank, in view of a series of corruption scandals,” a senior leader told Business Standard.
The move follows a string of developments that had taken place within the ruling BJP during the past fortnight, especially after a party senior and former tourism minister, T P S Rawat, a confidante of Khanduri, left the party over the issue of corruption. Rawat had recently floated an ‘Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha’, which was repeatedly raising corruption charges. Khanduri had also participated in a series of anti-corruption forums.
Khanduri was instrumental in bringing Rawat, who was earlier in the Congress, to the party fold in 2008 after he became chief minister in 2007. In 2008, Khanduri swapped his Pauri-Garhwal parliamentary seat with Rawat, who was then MLA from the Dhumakot area.
There was recent speculation about Khanduri floating a third front ahead of the assembly elections early next year, a move that might have jeopardised the political fortunes of the BJP and tilted the balance heavily in favour of the Congress.