Uttarakhand CM to resign over LS poll debacle

Owning the responsibility for the Bharatiya Janata Party's rout in Uttarakhand in the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister B C Khanduri on Tuesday decided to resign, setting in motion the hunt for his successor in the party.

Khanduri, 75, who has been the chief minister since March 2007, will be submitting his resignation to party chief Rajnath Singh, sources told PTI.

Khanduri took the decision after meeting senior BJP leader L K Advani and Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday as the party has not won even one of the five seats in the state.

In the dissolved Lok Sabha, the party had two members from the state.

BJP's Legislative Party will meet in Dehradun to choose Khanduri's successor, the sources said. An observer is likely to be sent by the central leadership to the state to oversee the election.

Former chief minister B S Koshiyari, who is a Rajya Sabha member, is considered to be the front-runner for the post.