Tirath Singh Rawat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 9thChief Minister of Uttarakhand | |
| In office 10 March 2021 – 01 July 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Trivendra Singh Rawat |
| Succeeded by | Pushkar Singh Dhami |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 30 May 2019 – 4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | B. C. Khanduri |
| Succeeded by | Anil Baluni |
| Constituency | Garhwal |
| Member of Vidhan Sabha, Uttarakhand | |
| In office 2012–2017 | |
| Succeeded by | Satpal Maharaj |
| Constituency | Chaubattakhal |
| Minister of Education, Uttarakhand | |
| In office 2000–2002 | |
| Chief Minister | Nityanand Swami |
| 6th President of theBharatiya Janata Party, Uttarakhand | |
| In office 9 February 2013 – 31 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Bishan Singh Chuphal |
| Succeeded by | Ajay Bhatt |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1964-04-09)9 April 1964 (age 61) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Other political affiliations | National Democratic Alliance |
| Spouse | Rashmi Tyagi Rawat |
| Children | One daughter |
| Alma mater | Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University |
| Website | Official website |
| Source:[1] | |
Tirath Singh Rawat (born 9 April 1964) is an Indian politician, a formerChief Minister of Uttarakhand and formerMember of Parliament fromLok Sabha.[1][2][3] He served as CM and former leader of the house in state legislative assembly in 2021. He was elected to the17th Lok Sabha from theGarhwal constituency in the2019 Indian general election[4][5] as member of theBharatiya Janata Party. He was the state president ofBharatiya Janata Party Uttarakhand from February 2013 to December 2015 and former member ofUttarakhand Legislative Assembly fromChaubattakhal constituency from 2012 to 2017.[6] He was also the first Education Minister of Uttarakhand.
Tirath Singh Rawat was born to aHinduRajput family in 1964 in thePauri Garhwal district ofUttar Pradesh (now inUttarakhand), India. His father was Kalam Singh Rawat and his mother Gaura Devi. He holds a Master's degree in sociology and a diploma in journalism.[7]
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Rawat entered active student politics and became the organizational secretary ofABVP Uttarakhand unit and later national secretary of ABVP. He was also the student union president atHemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in 1992. Subsequently, he became the state vice-president of Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He worked forRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a key worker, known as a pracharak, from 1983 to 1988.
He was the state vice-president of Uttar PradeshBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
In 1997, he was elected as a member ofUttar Pradesh Legislative Council and was elected as legislature leader of BJP in the legislative council ofUttar Pradesh.
He was the first education minister of the newly formed stateUttarakhand.
After this, he was elected as state general secretary ofUttarakhand in 2007 and after that state chief electoral officer and state membership chief.
In 2012, he was elected as legislative assembly member (MLA) and in 2013 he became Uttarakhand BJP supremo.
As Uttarakhand BJP president, he won four of six BJP mayoral posts in municipal corporation elections.He was elected as MP from Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency on 23 May 2019. He defeated his nearest rival Manish Khanduri by more than 3.50lakh votes.
He took oath as theChief Minister of Uttarakhand on 10 March 2021. At the time, Rawat was a member of the Lok Sabha representingPauri Garhwal, but not a member of theUttarakhand state assembly. Under the constitution, to remain as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, he needed to be elected to the state assembly within six months of being appointed Chief Minister (i.e. by 10 September 2021). Rawat did not contest theby-election for theSalt Assembly constituency seat in April 2021, in part because Rawat had tested positive for COVID-19 on 22 March 2021. There were two subsequent vacancies in the state assembly, but these occurred less than a year before the term of the assembly was due to end on 22 March 2022, and by-elections are not meant to be held in the last year of the assembly's term of office. Since Rawat could not get elected to the state assembly within the deadline, he and his cabinet colleagues resigned on 2 July 2021.[8][9]
In March 2021, at a function organised by Hans Foundation, Rawat said, "The way people started considering Lord Ram and Krishna as gods inDvapara andTreta yugas because of their works, in the same way, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will be considered as LordRam andKrishna in times to come."[10]Leaders from the opposition party ofCongress claimed this issycophancy and criticised him for his remarks.[11]
In March 2021, Tirath Singh Rawat created controversy by saying that he was shocked to see a woman running anNGO in ripped jeans, and was concerned about the example she was setting for society.[12][13]Priyanka Gandhi criticised Rawat on his remarks and also posted photos of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Union MinisterNitin Gadkari in white shirts and khaki shorts (RSS uniform).[14]
Rawat later apologised for his controversial remarks and added he has no problem withjeans. But he maintained his objections to ripped jeans, claiming wearing "torn" ones is "not right."[15][16]
Shortly after taking office as Chief Minister, Rawat said that India was handling the COVID-19 pandemic better than theUnited States, which had enslaved India for two hundred years. It sparked outrage as it was theBritish Empire that had colonised India, and not the United States.[17]
Rawat took heavy criticism for his decision to pursue theHaridwar Kumbh Mela inHaridwar without any restrictions related to COVID-19.[18][19] Rawat disputed the effects of COVID-19, saying that "Maa Ganga's blessings" would prevent ill effects.[20] The 2021 Kumbh Mela gravely exacerbated theCOVID-19 pandemic in India, and more than a thousand devotees tested positive for COVID-19 at the event.[21] He also drew a distinction of the Kumbh Mela gathering andTablighi gathering in Delhi during the preceding year, saying the latter was 'all inside a building' while Kumbh Mela is 'out in the open'.[22] The Uttarakhand High Court criticised his decision to proceed with the Kumbh Mela under this circumstance.[23] TheChota Char Dham Yatra, a tour of four holy sites in Uttarakhand, was suspended on 30 April due to the rise in cases of COVID-19.[24]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Uttarakhand 10 March 2021 - 4 July 2021 | Succeeded by |
