Bengal: Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat's resignation citing the improbability of getting elected in a by-poll within the stipulated time due to the situation over the pandemic had brought all focus on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, another non-elected chief minister who must win a by-poll within next four months.

Rawat, a LokSabha MP who was sworn in after chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned on March 10, had another two months to get elected. Banerjee, who lost the assembly election from the Nandigram constituency to her one-time confidante SuvenduAdhikari on his home turf, has to get elected by November 5 to continue as the chief minister.

"I have submitted my resignation to the Governor. Given the constitutional crisis, I felt it was right for me to resign," Rawat told reporters on Saturday. By constitutional crisis, he meant the uncertainty over conduction of the by-polls within the remaining two months.

Soon after, the BJP's national secretary, West Bengal's AnupamHazra, wrote on Facebook, 'Uttarakhand CM Rawat was a non-MLA chief minister. But he resigned like a gentleman as conduction of the by-poll was not possible due to the Covid-19 situation? But we can't expect such a gesture from everyone.'

Hazra did not name any but his target was understandably the Bengal chief minister.

The state government has over the past month has on several occasions demanded that the Bengal by-elections be held at the earliest. On June 23, Banerjee said, 'I have heard the election commission would not initiate the by-elections until getting the prime minister's nod. Therefore, I am requesting the prime minister to please clear the by-polls here.'

Meanwhile, on July 1, the state government received a letter from the election commission of India (ECI), in which the poll panel asked the state government if it would be possible to hold the by-elections to the two vacant RajyaSabha seats. The state, while saying they did not have a problem with conducting the RajyaSabha by-polls, also urged the ECI to consider conducting the assembly by-elections at the earliest because the second wave of the pandemic had come under control.