Amrita Rawat, Uttarkhand Cabinet Minister and wife of former Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj, was on Monday removed from the Cabinet by Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi on the recommendation of Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
Amrita Rawat's ouster from the Cabinet is being seen as a strong message by the CM to Cabinet Ministers and MlAs discouraging them from indulging in factionalism after the party's defeat in all the five parliamentary constituencies in the recently concluded lok Sabha election.
Reacting strongly to her removal from the cabinet, Amrita Rawat said that instead of removing her from the cabinet it is the Chief Minister who should resign from his post taking responsibility for the rout suffered by the Congress in Uttarakhand in the parliamentary polls.
Amrita Rawat's position in the Congress was weakened after her two sons spoke in favour of the BJP after voting in the parliamentary polls. Her husband and former Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj had left the Congress and joined the BJP before polling and since then he has been attacking the Congress-led State Government on various issues. She said that Harish Rawat had urged the Congress president Sonia Gandhi to remove the then CM Vijay Bahuguna from office and make him (Harish Rawat) the CM.
He had also promised the party high command that he would ensure the party's victory from at least three parliamentary constituencies, but this was not achieved, so Rawat should resign from the post of the CM, said Amrita Rawat.