The resignation of Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat was not called for, but it was necessary to, in his own words, prevent a “constitutional crisis”. Tirath Singh Rawat was not an elected state legislator. Constitutionally, he was required to get elected to the Uttarakhand state assembly within six months, i.e., before September 10; since he took office on March 10. However, the Election Commission seems to be in no mood to conduct any bypolls in the Himalayan state just yet. Owing to the Covid-19 crisis primarily, and also due to the fact that the state heads to polls early next year, the EC is not enthusiastic about the conduct of bypolls.
Mamata Banerjee’s fate too, hangs in the balance now. The resignation of Tirath Singh Rawat has shown how, due to Covid-19, chief ministers can be forced to quit because they did not even get an opportunity to get elected to the state assembly. Banerjee, who took oath as the West Bengal Chief Minister on May 5, has to get elected to the West Bengal Assembly before November 5. Banerjee lost to her former close aide turned BJP leader Suvendu Adhkari by 1956 votes. Banerjee has moved the Calcutta high court challenging Adhikari’s victory. The court has reserved its judgment in the matter.
Mamata Banerjee is getting desperate. Early this week, the TMC government urged the Election Commission (EC) to conduct pending by-polls in the state at the earliest. The Bengal government is said to have assured the EC that all Covid-19 protocols will be adhered to during the process. However, one does not know what India will have to face in the future. A third wave of Covid-19 could be looming over us at large.
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Mamata Banerjee, in her fear of losing the chief minister’s seat, even went on to the extent of telling reporters that bypolls due in the state could be held within seven days as the Covid-19 situation in the country is currently “under control”. Banerjee plans to contest the bypolls from her former seat of Bhawanipore – which she had abandoned prior to the elections to be defeated by Suvendu Adhikari at Nandigram.
Congress’s Karan Mahara, deputy leader of opposition in Uttarakhand, while spinning a conspiracy theory, alleged that Rawat could have very well contested bypolls, but he didn’t because the BJP wanted to ensure that Mamata Banerjee does not get elected by setting a precedent.
If the Covid-19 situation in the country or in the state of West Bengal further aggravates, there is no way the Election Commission would conduct the bypolls. If the situation then fails to stabilise by October, Banerjee will be forced to resign as chief minister – after which the BJP will employ every trick in the book to ensure that she does not make it to the position once again. Mamata Banerjee’s woes are far from over, and an even bigger embarrassment than her defeat in Nandigram might be in the waiting.
