A long-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday took oath as the ninth chief minister of Uttarakhand in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah in the state capital Dehradun.
Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul administered the oath of office .
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Rawat took oath along with seven cabinet ministers and two state ministers.
A day ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Rawat met state Governor KK Paul and claimed support of 57 MLAs to form government.
Rawat was on Friday elected the leader of the BJP Legislature Party. He along with BJP MLAs and senior leaders reached Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form government in the state.
A former associate of PM Modi, Rawat was the Agriculture Minister in the previous BJP government in Uttarakhand.
Rawat, an organisational man of the BJP and party in-charge in Jharkhand, won Doiwala seat by defeating Congress' Hira Singh Bisht by over 24,000 votes.
Rawat is the fifth BJP chief minister in the state. The party formed its first government in the state in 2000 with Nityanand Swami as the first chief minister.
The Rawat cabinet is dominated by Congress rebels- who joined the BJP before the state assembly polls.
Satpal Maharaj, Harak Singh Rawat, Yashpal Arya and Subodh Uniyal were among the four ex-Congress leaders to get ministerial berths.
One Congress rebel Rekha Arya obtain state minister post. Three BJP leaders — Prakash Pant, Madan Kausik and Arvind Pandey — figured in the cabinet list.
Earlier speculation was rife that Satpal Maharaj will not accept the cabinet minister post. But, Maharaj surprised all by accepting the post. He was a frontrunner to the CM’s post this time. Even in 2014 when Congress decided to remove Vijay Bahuguna and make Harish Rawat the Chief Minister, Satpal objected to the party decision.
