BJP MP Tirath Singh Rawat is set to become the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, outgoing CM Trivendra Singh Rawat announced on Wednesday after a meeting of the BJP legislature party in Dehradun.
He was elected as an MP from the Pauri Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 general assembly polls. He defeated his nearest rival Manish Khanduri by over 3.5 lakh votes.
Tirath Singh Rawat, a former Uttarakhand BJP chief, was the state's Education Minister from 2000-02, in the first government of the hill state.
Currently, he is also a BJP national secretary, a former MLA from Chobatakhal Vidhansabha and former chief of the saffron party's state unit between February 9, 2013, and December 31, 2015.
He was born in Pauri Garhwal district, the same district as Dhan Singh Rawat, who was widely considered a top contender for the post of the chief minister after Trivendra Singh Rawat.
As Uttarakhand BJP President, he led the party to win four mayoral posts out of six in the 2013 municipal polls.