Harak Singh asked tickets for family members thus sacked, says Uttarakhand CM

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has reacted to the dismissal of Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat on Sunday. Dhami said that Harak Singh Rawat was pressurizing the party to get tickets for his family members.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that BJP has a different policy. In BJP, the ticket is given to only one person from a family. In such a situation, it was not possible to accept the demand of Harak Singh Rawat thus he was dismissed from the cabinet. Harak Singh Rawat was holding 7 ministries in the Dhami government.

It is learned that Harak Singh Rawat was reportedly seeking a ticket for his daughter-in-law Anukreethy Gusain Rawat from Lansdowne from BJP.

According to the sources, he was also demanding tickets from Yamkeshwar and Kedarnath seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) was firm on the formula of 'one family-one ticket' thus did not accept his demands.

Sources say Harak Singh Rawat did not even attend the BJP Core Committee in Dehradun on January 15 regarding ticket distribution. When asked, he said that he was not informed about the meeting while Uttarakhand BJP's election in-charge Prahlad Joshi said that he had called Harak Singh Rawat but his phone was not ringing. thus the party high command got angry and Harak Singh Rawat was dismissed from the government and expelled from the party for the next 6 years.

This development comes a month before the Assembly elections, which are slated for February 14, in the state. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took the action against Rawat, who had switched over his loyalties from the Congress to the BJP prior to the 2017 Assembly polls.

According to the sources, the decision to dismiss Rawat from the Cabinet was taken during the BJP's Uttarakhand Core Group meeting held at the party's headquarters in Delhi on Saturday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were present at the meeting, along with the party's National President Jagat Prakash Nadda, State president Madan Kaushik, state election in-charge Pralhad Joshi, election co-in charge RP Singh, and others.

Earlier in December, Rawat had tendered resignation to the minister's post and warned of quitting the party following which BJP leaders had asked him to remain in the party to which he had agreed.

Rawat joined the BJP five years ago after from Congress. Though, speculations are rife about Rawat returning to Congress again. He has a long history of changing political parties. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday had said that he will contest the ensuing Assembly polls from the Khatima constituency and said that the list of candidates will be announced soon.

The Chief Minister further stated that they have set a target of winning more than 60 seats out of the 70 seats in the Assembly. In the last Assembly elections, BJP secured 57 seats out of 70 in Uttarakhand. Polls to elect the 70-member State Legislative Assembly are slated for February 14. The counting will take place on March 10.