Uttarakhand CM meets BJP chief amid removal reports

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat arrived in New Delhi on Monday and met central Bharatiya Janata Party leaders amid speculation that the party is mulling political changes in the state.

Two central leaders, BJP vice president Raman Singh and general secretary Dushyant Singh Gautam, are learned to have submitted their report to party president J P Nadda on their return from the state where they had gone to speak to state BJP core group members.

However, senior party leaders discounted the possibility of any leadership change in the state while acknowledging that a section of Uttarakhand leaders may have issues with the chief minister.

Rawat met Nadda and had earlier in the day visited Uttarakhand MP Anil Baluni's residence too.

BJP MP Ajay Bhatt, a senior party leader from the state, said that "all is well" in the state and added that the two central leaders had visited Uttarakhand regarding preparations for the three-day state BJP executive meeting from March 12 and the Rawat government's fourth anniversary on March 18.

Gautam had also spoken on similar lines on Sunday.

A section of state leaders are reportedly miffed with Rawat's leadership and are of the view that the party's electoral prospects under him may not be very bright.

The party may also go for a cabinet reshuffle in the state, sources said.

Rawat was named the chief ministerial candidate by the BJP after it stormed to power in 2017, winning 57 of 70 seats in the state assembly.