Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat says he doesn't wish to contest election

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday wrote to BJP national president JP Nadda requesting him not to field him in the upcoming polls in the state.

His letter came on a day when the party central leadership is meeting in Delhi to finalise the candidates for the hill state. There is also a buzz that the BJP is keen on accommodating the outgoing speaker of the assembly Premchand Aggarwal from Doiwala who currently represents the Rishikesh seat. Doiwala is represented by Trivendra Rawat in the current assembly.

In his letter, Rawat reposed faith in the leadership of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and expressed his desire not to contest the assembly polls in the changed circumstances. "I want to work wholetime so that the BJP government is formed under Dhami's leadership," he wrote in his letter to Nadda.


Sources in the BJP said Trivendra would be asked to focus on the Garhwal region and ensure victory of the party's candidates. "He is a popular face of the party in Garhwal region. The party wants him to dedicate his time to this region," a source in the BJP said.

In 2017, Trivendra Rawat became CM after winning from Doiwala. Trivendra was replaced as CM by Tirath Singh Rawat in March last year. Dhami succeeded Tirath Rawat.

Trivendra Rawat's decision may also force the Congress to revisit its plan for Doiwala as it wanted to field a big name from the seat and make an issue of the four-and-a-half-year BJP government in the state under Rawat.