Tirath Singh Rawat, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was sworn in as the new chief minister of Uttarakhand on Wednesday in Dehradun. Trivendra Singh Rawat, the state’s chief minister, resigned the day before.

Tirath Singh Rawat represents Pauri Garhwal in the Lok Sabha for the BJP. On Wednesday, he was elected as the chief of the Uttarakhand BJP legislature party. This paved the way for his election as Uttarakhand’s new chief minister.

At a meeting of the Uttarakhand BJP’s legislature party today, the 56-year-old was chosen over popular candidates such as Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Uttarakhand Minister Dhan Singh Rawat.

After taking oath he expressed his gratitude to prime minster Narendra Modi, home minster Amit Shah. HE also thanked the state BJP leadership for placing trust in him.

Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from the office of Uttarakhand Chief Minister on Tuesday evening, ending days of speculation about a leadership transition in the state amid complaints of non-performance and anger within the Uttarakhand BJP over his way of working.

Following a BJP legislature party meeting on Wednesday morning, Rawat was voted in as the state’s chief minister “unanimously.” While fellow MPs Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni, as well as state education minister Dhan Singh Rawat, were listed, he was chosen for the top job in the hill state. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, a Lok Sabha MP and former chief minister of the northern state is now the Union Minister for Education.