Dehradun, Feb 1 (IANS): Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat was Saturday named the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, Congress party leaders said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi chose Rawat after outgoing chief minister Vijay Bahuguna moved a resolution at a meeting of Congress legislators here authorising her to select his successor.

Central observers Janardan Dwivedi, Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who were present at the meeting, conveyed the message to the party high command.

Since Gandhi is on a tour in Karnataka, it took some time in getting across to her, Dwivedi told media persons.

When she proposed Rawat's name, the matter was brought before the legislature party again and was ratified unanimously.

The new cabinet was scheduled to be sworn in later Saturday.

Bahuguna resigned Friday after instructions from the party high command following accusations of poor rehabilitation measures taken after the June 2013 flash floods which killed thousands of people in the hill state.

Rawat, who had lost the race to Bahuguna when the Congress party came back to power in 2012, will be the state's eighth chief minister.

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