Tirath Singh Rawat and Trivendra Singh Rawat withdrew their nominations late on Sunday after being directed to do so by the party high command, state BJP spokesman Satish Lakhera told PTI.
This was in keeping with party tradition and facilitate appointment of someone chosen by the central leadership to take over the reins of the party in the state, he said.
The prolonged search by the BJP for a consensus candidate to head the party's Uttarakhand unit came a cropper on Friday when the two party leaders entered the fray for the post in the presence of senior party leaders, including central party observer Vijay Goel and former chief ministers B C Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank.
Tirath Singh Rawat is former pradesh BJP general secretary and Trivendra Singh Rawat is a former minister.
While Tirath Singh Rawat, who has Sangh background, has the backing of former chief minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, Trivendra Singh Rawat has the support of another party stalwart and former CM Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
A search was on since the end of Bishen Singh Chufal's tenure in November last year to find a consensus candidate for the state party chief who could lead the party in 2014 general elections.