New Uttarakhand CM, Trivendra Rawat, a Modi confidant

17 March, Dehradun

Trivendra Singh Rawat, considered a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is set to take oath as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand tomorrow.

The 56-year-old was elected as leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party. He won his traditional Doiwala seat for the third time by defeating Congress’ Hira Singh Bisht by over 24,000 votes.

Trivendra had joined Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in 1983 and till 2002 was active in the Sangh. When Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, he was the party’s state unit general secretary (organisation).

In 2002, he won the Doiwala Assembly for the first time. Trivendra retained his seat in the 2007 elections and served as the state’s Minister of Agriculture. He lost the 2012 Assembly polls from the Raipur seat, and the 2014 by-elections to the Doiwala seat to the Congress.

Trivendra also worked with BJP chief Amit Shah in Uttar Pradesh during the 2014 general elections where the BJP swept all but seven seats. He was also credited with the BJP’s win in Jharkhand. Trivendra has a post-graduate degree in History and a diploma in Journalism from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University.

According to his affidavit, he has no criminal cases against him and holds assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.Trivendra is currently the convener of the Modi government’s flagship programme ‘Namami Gange’.