Trivendra Singh Rawat was on Friday unanimously elected the leader of Uttarakhand BJP legislature party, paving the way for the former RSS pracharak’s swearing-in on
Saturday as  the new chief minister of the state.

Announcing this after the legislature party meeting at a hotel here, BJP’s central observer for the election Narendra Singh Tomar said Rawat’s name was proposed by Prakash Pant and Satpal Maharaj, MLAs from Pithoragarh and Chaubattakhal respectively, and seconded by a host of other legislators.

Satpal Mahraj, a former Union minister and one of the proposers, was among the contenders for the top job.

Soon after the legislature party meeting, the MLAs left for Raj Bhawan where they will hand over the resolution on Rawat’s unanimous election to Governor K K Paul.

Rawat will be sworn in as the eighth chief minister of the hill state on Saturday at the Parade Ground here in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, besides a host of national and state party leaders.

Shyam Jaju, in-charge of the party’s affairs in the state, described Rawat as the most suitable choice since he was a leader who had both organisational and ministerial experience, having served as BJP’s organisation secretary and a minister.

“Trivendra Singh Rawat is a leader who has both organisational and ministerial experience. He is perfectly equipped to give the state the kind of leadership it needs,“ Jaju said.

Rawat emerged as the party’s choice for the top office beating stiff competition from contenders like Prakash Pant and Satpal Maharaj.

The past six days after March 11, when the party swept to a landslide victory in the state winning 57 out of 70 seats, witnessed intense speculation over who would be the new chief minister with over half a dozen heavyweight contenders.

After his election as the legislature party leader, Rawat promised to work towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of eliminating corruption and poverty.

“Providing people of the state with a corruption-free government and bringing about a major change in the lives of the poorest of the poor as targeted by the Prime Minister will be our priority,” he told reporters.