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Tirath Singh Rawat
9th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
In office 10 March 2021 – 3 July 2021
Preceded by	Trivendra Singh Rawat
Succeeded by	Pushkar Singh Dhami
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 30 May 2019 – 4 June 2024
Preceded by	B. C. Khanduri
Succeeded by	Anil Baluni
Constituency	Garhwal
Member of Vidhan Sabha, Uttarakhand
In office 2012–2017
Succeeded by	Satpal Maharaj
Constituency	Chaubattakhal
Minister of Education, Uttarakhand
In office 2000–2002
Chief Minister	Nityanand Swami
6th President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Uttarakhand
In office 9 February 2013 – 31 December 2015
Preceded by	Bishan Singh Chuphal
Succeeded by	Ajay Bhatt
Personal details
Born	(1964-04-09) 9 April 1964 (age 60) Seeron, Pauri Garhwal district, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand, India)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Other political affiliations	National Democratic Alliance
Spouse	Rashmi Tyagi Rawat
Children	One daughter
Alma mater	Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University
Website	Official website
Source:

Tirath Singh Rawat (born 9 April 1964) is an Indian politician, a former Member of Parliament and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was elected to the 17th Lok Sabha from the Garhwal constituency in the 2019 Indian general election as member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the party chief of Bharatiya Janata Party Uttarakhand from 9 February 2013 to 31 December 2015 and former member of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from Chaubattakhal constituency from 2012 to 2017. He was also the first Education Minister of Uttarakhand.

Early life and education

Tirath Singh Rawat was born to a Hindu Rajput family in 1964 in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand), India. His father was Kalam Singh Rawat and his mother Gaura Devi. He holds a Master's degree in sociology and a diploma in journalism.

Career

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Rawat entered active student politics and became the organizational secretary of ABVP Uttarakhand unit and later national secretary of ABVP. He was also the student union president at Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in 1992. Subsequently, he became the state vice-president of Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He worked for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a key worker, known as a pracharak, from 1983 to 1988.

He was the state vice-president of Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

In 1997, he was elected as a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council and was elected as legislature leader of BJP in the legislative council of Uttar Pradesh.

He was the first education minister of the newly formed state Uttarakhand.

After this, he was elected as state general secretary of Uttarakhand in 2007 and after that state chief electoral officer and state membership chief.

In 2012, he was elected as legislative assembly member (MLA) and in 2013 he became Uttarakhand BJP supremo.

As Uttarakhand BJP president, he won four of six BJP mayoral posts in municipal corporation elections. He was elected as MP from Garhwal Lok Sabha constituency on 23 May 2019. He defeated his nearest rival Manish Khanduri by more than 3.50 lakh votes.

He took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 10 March 2021. At the time, Rawat was a member of the Lok Sabha representing Pauri Garhwal, but not a member of the Uttarakhand state assembly. Under the constitution, to remain as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, he needed to be elected to the state assembly within six months of being appointed Chief Minister (i.e. by 10 September 2021). Rawat did not contest the by-election for the Salt Assembly constituency seat in April 2021, in part because Rawat had tested positive for COVID-19 on 22 March 2021. There were two subsequent vacancies in the state assembly, but these occurred less than a year before the term of the assembly was due to end on 22 March 2022, and by-elections are not meant to be held in the last year of the assembly's term of office. Since Rawat could not get elected to the state assembly within the deadline, he and his cabinet colleagues resigned on 2 July 2021.

Controversies

Narendra Modi as the avatar of Rama and Krishna

In March 2021, at a function organised by Hans Foundation, Rawat said, "The way people started considering Lord Ram and Krishna as gods in Dvapara and Treta yugas because of their works, in the same way, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be considered as Lord Ram and Krishna in times to come." Leaders from the opposition party of Congress claimed this is sycophancy and criticised him for his remarks.

Views on women's clothing

In March 2021, Tirath Singh Rawat created controversy by saying that he was shocked to see a woman running an NGO in ripped jeans, and was concerned about the example she was setting for society. Priyanka Gandhi criticised Rawat on his remarks and also posted photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in white shirts and khaki shorts (RSS uniform).

Rawat later apologised for his controversial remarks and added he has no problem with jeans. But he maintained his objections to ripped jeans, claiming wearing "torn" ones is "not right."

Colonisation of India

Shortly after taking office as Chief Minister, Rawat said that India was handling the COVID-19 pandemic better than the United States, which had enslaved India for two hundred years. It sparked outrage as it was the British Empire that had colonised India, and not the United States.

COVID-19 pandemic

Rawat took heavy criticism for his decision to pursue the Haridwar Kumbh Mela in Haridwar without any restrictions related to COVID-19. Rawat disputed the effects of COVID-19, saying that "Maa Ganga's blessings" would prevent ill effects. The 2021 Kumbh Mela gravely exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and more than a thousand devotees tested positive for COVID-19 at the event. He also drew a distinction of the Kumbh Mela gathering and Tablighi gathering in Delhi during the preceding year, saying the latter was 'all inside a building' while Kumbh Mela is 'out in the open'. The Uttarakhand High Court criticised his decision to proceed with the Kumbh Mela under this circumstance. The Chota Char Dham Yatra, a tour of four holy sites in Uttarakhand, was suspended on 30 April due to the rise in cases of COVID-19.

Awards

• Newsmakers Achievers Awards 2022

References

1. "Tirath Singh Rawat: All you need to know about the new chief minister of Uttarakhand". The Times of India. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
2. Santoshi, Neeraj (10 March 2021). "Tirath Singh Rawat: From RSS pracharak to Uttarakhand chief minister". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
3. "CM Tirath Singh Rawat Profile: जानें कौन हैं तीरथ सिंह रावत जो बने उत्तराखंड के नए मुख्यमंत्री". Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 10 March 2021.
4. "Tirath Singh Rawat sworn-in as new Uttarakhand CM". The Economic Times. Press Trust of India. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
5. "तीरथ सिंह रावत बने उत्तराखंड के CM, कहा- सबको साथ लेकर चलूंगा, RSS में यही ट्रेनिंग पाई". Aajtak (in Hindi). 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
6. "National Office Bearers". Bharatiya Janata Party. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
7. Santoshi, Neeraj (10 March 2021). "Tirath Singh Rawat: From RSS pracharak to Uttarakhand chief minister". The Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
8. Singh, Kautilya, ed. (2 July 2021). "Uttarakhand CM Tirath Rawat returns to Dehradun, likely to submit resignation soon". The Times of India.
9. Verma, Lalmani; Mathew, Liz (3 July 2021). "Tirath Singh Rawat resigns, BJP to have third CM in Uttarakhand in four months". The Indian Express.
10. "People will consider Modi as avatar of Ram, Krishna: Uttarakhand CM Tirath Rawat". The Tribune. Tribune India. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
11. Upadhyay, Vineet (16 March 2021). "Opposition lashes out at Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat for comparing PM Modi with Lord Ram". The New Indian Express.
12. DMansera, Dinesh (17 March 2021). Ghosh, Deepshikha (ed.). "Controversy For New Uttarakhand Chief Minister With "Ripped Jeans" Remark". NDTV.
13. Santoshi, Neeraj (18 March 2021). "A word picked up, blown up Tirath Rawat's wife on his ripped jeans remark". Hindustan Times.
14. Roy, Divyanshu Dutta, ed. (18 March 2021). "In Priyanka Gandhi's Takedown Of "Ripped Jeans" Comment, A Photo Of PM". NDTV.
15. "Uttarakhand Chief Minister Apologises But Repeats Objection To Torn Jeans". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 20 March 2021.
16. "Tirath Singh Rawat apologises for ripped jeans remark but says wearing torn jeans 'not right'". India Today. Press Trust of India. 20 March 2021.
17. "'America ruled India for 200 years...': Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat". mint. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
18. Sengupta, Shuddhabrata (20 April 2021). "Kumbh 2021: Astrology, Mortality and the Indifference to Life of Leaders and Stars". The Wire (India). Retrieved 23 April 2021.
19. "Uttarakhand Kumbh Mela: Here is why new CM Tirath Singh Rawat doesn't want any restrictions on pilgrims". The Financial Express. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
20. "Haridwar: Hundreds test positive for Covid at Kumbh Mela". BBC News. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
21. "COVID 'super-spreader' erupts as devotees throng Indian festival". al Jazeera. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
22. "Kumbh Mela can't be compared to Nizamuddin Markaz, claims Uttarakhand CM". Scroll.in. Scroll. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
23. Rathore, Dilip Singh (29 April 2021). "HC pulls up Uttarakhand govt over Kumbh Mela amid Covid pandemic, seeks status report". India Today. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
24. Verma, Lalmani (30 April 2021). "Uttarakhand suspends Char Dham Yatra in wake of rising Covid-19 cases". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
25. "Nominations are open for Afternoon Voice's 14th Newsmakers Achievers Awards 2022". ANI News.

External links

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
• Official website

v t e Members of the 17th Lok Sabha from Uttarakhand
GE 2019	Ajay Bhatt Ajay Tamta Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah Ramesh Pokhriyal Tirath Singh Rawat
16th LS members 18th LS membersMembers of the 17th Lok Sabha from States AP AR AS BR CT GA GJ HR HP JH KA KL MP MH ML MN MZ NL OR PB RJ SK TG TN TR UP UT WB Union territories AN CH DH DL JK LA LD PY

• Uttarakhand MLAs 2000–2002
• State cabinet ministers of Uttarakhand
• Finance ministers of Uttarakhand
• People from Pauri Garhwal district
• Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttarakhand
• India MPs 2019–2024
• 1964 births
• Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council
• Living people
• Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party
• Uttarakhand MLAs 2012–2017
• Uttarakhand MLAs 2017–2022
• Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University alumni