On 9/3/2021 Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat submitted his resignation letter to Governor Baby Rani Maurya. He is the first BJP CM to resign without completing his term after Narendra Modi became PM. Amit Shah had become President of BJP and during his time no BJP CM had to resign before term got over. On 20/1/2020 Jagat Prakash Nadda became BJP President.
There are many slips between the cup and the lip. Rawat had plans for grand celebration of four years of his government on 18/3/2021.
CM should be someone who has confidence of MLAs. Members of Legislative Assembly who belong to ruling party should decide on the election or removal of CM. It is not democracy when party high command decides on CM.
For many years after independence, Congress was the dominant party. Its high command decided various posts. Appearance of MLAs electing CMs was kept. When one became CM, others wanted to pull him down. From 1978 onwards Congress became property of Gandhi family.
Other parties followed high command system, including BJP which claimed to be party with a difference. In states where regional parties ruled, the leader of the party became CM. They did not have to worry about high command in Delhi. It was Mulayam Singh Yadav or Mayawati or Akhilesh Yadav in UP, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, KCR in Telangana, YSJ in Andhra Pradesh, and so on. Most BJP or Congress CMs did not complete their term but some returned to power after some months or years. Sheila Dikshit stands out as CM for three terms.
The office of CM is not to be trifled with. It is not a plaything. Rawat had allowed a 19-year old girl to act as CM for a day. That was improper and unconstitutional.
About reason for his resignation Rawat said “This is a collective decision and for a very good reason you have to go to Delhi.”
Many reasons are given for removal of Rawat. Some like style of functioning and inaccessibility are commonly made against many CMs. Main reason for removal of Rawat is passage of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act 2019 which brought 51 shrines under direct government control. VHP had pronounced protest against the Act.