Long list of controversies in shortest stint as CM

Before Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, another BJP man, Bhagat Singh Koshyari held the record for the shortest stint as CM of the state — 122 days

- VINEET UPADHYAY

THE man to have had the shortest tenure as Uttarakhand CM is also the one with a bagful of controversial remarks and incidents that happened during his 115 days in the hot seat. Before Tirath Singh Rawat resigned, another BJP man, Bhagat Singh Koshyari held the record for the shortest stint as CM of the state — 122 days.

Almost every day of Rawat’s reign was eventful. One of his first decisions after being sworn in was to shower flowers on devotees attending the Mahakumbh. He withdrew the restrictions imposed by his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat, who had said he wanted the Kumbh to be ‘symbolic’ due to the pandemic. The holy dip drew over 40 lakh by official estimates and triggered a 2600% rise in active Covid-19 cases in Uttarakhand between March 31 and April 30. Then came the fake testing scam and news of under-reporting of deaths, which drew flak from the Uttarakhand High Court.