Rawat supporters celebrate anticipating his appointment as CM

Dehradun: Jumping the gun supporters of Union minister Harish Rawat, who is tipped to succeed Vijay Bahuguna as Uttarakhand chief minister, on Friday gathered at his office and celebrated.

Rawat loyalists, led by Rajiv Jain, converged at the minister`s Majra office here and offered sweets to each other amid beating of drums. They claimed his appointment as the next chief minister of Uttarakhand was "almost final" and an announcement in this regard was just a formality. "Our leader (Rawat) is all set to become chief minister. The people of Uttarakhand have long been wanting to see him assuming the top post," Jain told reporters. However, Bahuguna, soon after submitting his papers to Governor Aziz Qureshi said that a CLP meeting will pass a unanimous resolution here tomorrow authorising AICC president Sonia Gandhi to appoint the new CM. Though Rawat has emerged as the front-runner for the post, the names of Indira Hridayesh and Pritam Singh are also doing the rounds as possible replacements for Bahuguna who resigned today.