Trivendra Singh Rawat (born 20 December 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand between 2017 and 2021. Rawat was a member of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

from 1979 to 2002 and held the post of organising secretary of the Uttarakhand region, and later the Uttarakhand state, after the state's formation in 2000. He was elected from Doiwala in the State's first legislative assembly elections in 2002. He retained his seat in the 2007 elections and served as the State's Minister of Agriculture. As a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, Rawat served as

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

's in-charge and Uttarakhand cadre's president. Winning from Doiwala again in 2017, he was named the Chief Minister after his party won majority and formed the government. Rawat resigned from the post on 9 March 2021 citing a "collective decision" made by the party.

Early life and career

Rawat was born on 20 December 1960 in the village of Khairasain in the Kotdwar

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

, in Pauri Garhwal district of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. He was the ninth and youngest child in the family. He obtained his master's degree in journalism from Birla Campus in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

affiliated to the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University. Rawat joined the

in 1979 before becoming its ''pracharak'' (campaigner) for the Dehradun region in 1985. Subsequently, he joined the

(BJP), the political party associated with it. He was made BJP's organising secretary for the Uttarakhand region and worked with the senior leader Lalji Tandon at the time. He was also actively involved in the Uttarakhand movement, during which he was arrested several times. After the region received statehood in 2000, Rawat was made the state cadre's BJP president. Rawat lost a by-election from Doiwala in 2014, when the seat was vacated by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.

Chief Minister

In 2017 he won the same Assembly constituency of Doiwala. His 27 July 2017 tweet about linguistic preferences sparked off controversy and he was accused of preferring Garhwali language over the Kumaoni language. In July 2019, Rawat said that cow is the only animal that exhales oxygen and that living in close proximity to cows could cure tuberculosis. This unscientific statement sparked off a controversy. On 9 March 2021, Rawat resigned from the post of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. This was following meetings with the BJP leaders in Delhi, whom the observers from centre gave their report about the growing dissent against Rawat among MLAs and ministers, including mismanagement during the Chamoli flash floods. In May 2021, Rawat said that coronavirus is also a living organism which has a right to live, just like humans. The virus is changing its form constantly. The opposition criticised him and said that his statement is foolish and nonsense, and he has lost his mind and has no vision. He did not the contest 2022 assembly election.

2024 general election

In March 2024, Rawat was announced as the BJP candidate for the Haridwar constituency in the 2024 general elections, which he won by a margin of 164,056 votes.

References

External links

Official website of CM of Uttarakhand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawat, Trivendra Singh Living people Uttarakhand MLAs 2002–2007 State cabinet ministers of Uttarakhand 1960 births People from Pauri Garhwal district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttarakhand Uttarakhand MLAs 2017–2022 Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Chief ministers of Uttarakhand Finance ministers of Uttarakhand Uttarakhand MLAs 2007–2012 Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University alumni India MPs 2024–2029