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Uttarakhand leader steps down
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen (Retd) Bhuwan Chand Khanduri on Tuesday tendered his resignation to state Governor Banwari Lal Joshi following instructions from the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to quit in view of growing dissidence within the party's state unit.
- By Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent
- Published: 22:56 June 23, 2009
New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen (Retd) Bhuwan Chand Khanduri on Tuesday tendered his resignation to state Governor Banwari Lal Joshi following instructions from the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to quit in view of growing dissidence within the party's state unit.
The BJP has convened a meeting today of its Uttarakhand lawmakers, most of whom are already camping in the national capital, to find Khanduri's successor.
The decision to ask Khanduri, 75, who had taken over as the chief minister in March 2007 following the BJP's narrow victory in the state, comes nearly a month after the party lost all five Lok Sabha seats from Uttarakhand in the parliamentary elections.
Earlier Khanduri had sent his resignation to BJP national president Rajnath Singh on Monday night and was instructed to brief the governor, who has asked him to continue in office until his successor is found.
Khanduri was asked to step down following a meeting of the BJP core group held at its top leader Lal Krishna Advani's residence on Monday.
Khanduri, who has never been very popular with the masses and party workers but has a reputation as a doer, was on a sticky wicket after the parliamentary polls.
"Khanduri has taken moral responsibility fro the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttarakhand and had offered to resign which has been accepted," BJP chief Rajnath Singh said.
The BJP had earlier asked the dissidents to wait until its national executive meeting concluded deliberations on Sunday after its Rajya Sabha member Bhagat Singh Koshiyari opted to resign from parliament in a bid to build pressure on the party leadership.
Koshiyari later agreed to withdraw his resignation after getting an assurance that Khanduri would be asked to go.
While dissidence was at its peak, Khanduri had managed to pull off a coup of sorts by getting a majority of the legislators to support his continuation.
The situation, however, changed as dramatically after Koshiyari took up cudgels against Khanduri.
Incidentally, Khanduri agreed to quit on conditions that Koshiyari would not be named as his successor, which was accepted by the BJP leadership.
According to BJP sources, Advani while agreeing to the proposal to ask Khanduri to quit insisted on a youthful new incumbent who could lead the party into the 2012 assembly elections.
Party circles say that the race is now confined between Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant and Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.
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