New Delhi, Jan 17: Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat was on Sunday sacked from the government and expelled from the BJP for six years for “anti-party activities” amid speculation that he would rejoin the Congress.
BJP sources said Rawat was seeking tickets for three members of his family, including his wife, for the assembly polls, but was told that the party has made it a rule that only one member of a family will be fielded.
“He has been dropped from the Dhami cabinet and expelled from the party for six years,” a source said.
The development comes barely a month ahead of the February 14 assembly elections in the hill state.
Rawat is in the national capital and is likely to join the Congress on Monday. Rawat is in touch with the Congress leadership and is likely to join the party. His daughter-in-law can also join the party with him on Monday.
Rawat had left the Congress and joined the BJP before the 2017 assembly elections.
Rawat is said to have been complaining against the BJP leadership for quite some time, and even publicly expressing his displeasure.
He did not attend the party meeting for selection of candidates in Dehradun on Saturday. As he met a senior Congress leader on Sunday and indicated that he would join the party on Monday, the BJP acted against him.
Similarly, last month, Rawat had announced his resignation after leaving the cabinet meeting. He threatened to resign demanding a budget for a medical college in Kotdwar assembly constituency and said that Rs 5 crore has been sanctioned for the medical college, but only limits can be built from that fund.
Two days later, after a dinner meeting between Dhami and Rawat, the Uttarakhand BJP claimed that the crisis that arose after threats to resign from the state cabinet had been resolved.
After the meeting, Rawat had said that Dhami was like his “younger brother” and that they had a “long relationship”.