Uttarakhand's history of Chief Ministers' premature exit

Chief Minister's exit before completion of tenure is not new to Uttarakhand. Among the chief ministers Narayan Dutt Tiwari of the Congress party has only served his complete term as CM while the state has been witnessing premature exit over twenty years since its formation.

Hyderabad:Trivendra Singh Rawat's resignation from the Chief Ministerial post of Uttarakhand has stirred the hornet's nest and the Bharatiya Janata Party's next move has been pondered upon. It should be noted that Rawat had inherited the legacy of Chief Ministers' premature exit. The state which came into existence in November 2000 has only witnessed a single Chief Minister completing the tenure of five years in twenty years.

Nityanand Swami who formed the first government in Uttarakhand after the state formation was ousted and replaced by BS Koshyari just 11 days short of one year.

Later, BJP lost power in the 2002 elections. Narayan Dutt Tiwari is the only Chief Minister to have completed his tenure in the history of Uttarakhand politics from 2002 to 2007.

In the subsequent election, BJP came to power and BC Khanduri served as the Chief Minister for two years and four months, but he was replaced by Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

However, Pokhriyal failed to complete the remaining term and taking a U-turn, the BJP brought Khanduri back six months before the Uttarakhand Assembly Elections of 2012.

The Congress and the BJP fought neck-to-neck in 2012 election as the former won 32 seats and the latter won 31 seats. The Congress secured support of three Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and formed the government with the additional backing of the lone Uttarakhand Kranti Dal MLA and three independent legislators.

Over the next five years, Uttarakhand further witnessed change of Chief Minister.

The Congress first appointed Vijay Bahuguna as the Chief Minister. But after the devastating floods of 2013, he was replaced by Harish Rawat erstwhile Union Minister.

Harish Rawat served as Uttarakhand Chief Minister for 311 days in his third term. Harish Rawat's successor Trivendra Singh Rawat had the longest continuous stay in power in Uttarakhand after Narayan Dutt Tiwari.