Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat likely to resign; BJP assessment says he could lose bypoll
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New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat is likely to resign at the prodding of the BJP high command, which, sources said, has taken into account assessments that Rawat may lose the assembly bypoll if he contests, which would then have a very adverse impact on the party’s prospects in assembly elections early next year.
Party leaders, however, maintained for the record that Rawat was resigning because there is no clarity on whether the Election Commission would hold bypolls on time.
Rawat is facing Constitutional issues regarding his elevation — the chief minister is a Lok Sabha MP and has to get elected to the state assembly before 10 September to retain his post.
He had met BJP president J.P. Nadda Friday, for the second time in three days, to discuss the political crisis and his election to the state assembly before 10 September.
Sources in the BJP told ThePrint that the chief minister would soon meet the Uttarakhand governor. “He is likely to resign as there is no clarity on bypolls,” said a source. “Due to the constitutional crisis, the party had to take this decision to change the chief minister. The legislature party meeting will be held soon to select the next chief minister.”
The source said the next chief minister will be chosen from among the MLAs.
A CM under Constitutional pressure
Rawat, who replaced Trivendra Singh Rawat as chief minister of the hill state on 10 March, is the Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal. He is yet to resign.
But to continue as chief minister under Constitutional norms, he will have to resign from the Lok Sabha and get elected to the state Vidhan Sabha by 10 September.
Since Uttarakhand does not have a legislative council, the chief minister can only get elected to the state assembly.
Rawat’s problems have been compounded by the lack of clarity on whether the Election Commission will conduct bypolls at Gangotri and Haldwani, which have been lying vacant since April and June this year, respectively.
Sources said that the BJP high command is also not confident that Tirath Singh Rawat will be able to win the election. “If that happens, it has the ability to impact the UP elections too,” said a BJP leader.
‘Will go with what party decides’
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Rawat said that he will abide by whatever his party’s central leadership decides. He was speaking after his meeting with Nadda, which lasted for around 30 minutes Friday.
“After the meeting with the central leadership, the indications are that it will be difficult for the chief minister to continue,” said a second BJP leader. “At the same time, the anti-Rawat gang is also using the opportunity to scuttle his chances.”
Rawat had also met Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah late Wednesday night. Sources said that issues regarding his continuance as chief minister were discussed at the meeting.
“During the Wednesday meeting, which took place at Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence, all the possible scenarios were discussed,” a third BJP leader said.
The leader added that it was explained to Rawat that it would be difficult to hold bypolls, given that there is a caveat in the Representation of the People Act, which stipulates that bypolls for a seat should be held if the incumbent elected has at least a year’s tenure to serve.
Assembly elections in Uttarakhand are less than a year away — the term of the current assembly, elected in 2017, will expire on 23 March 2022.
BJP national general secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge, Dushyant Gautam, told ThePrint that there was no discussion of the Uttarakhand by-polls at the party level. “If there is anything you will get to know. Right now there’s no such discussion,” he said.
Even as the party refuses to speak on the issue, sources said that the central leadership has called senior Uttarakhand leaders Satpal Maharaj and Dhan Singh Rawat to Delhi.
(Edited by Arun Prashanth)
Courtesy: theprint.in
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UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
