Uttarakhand Assembly floor test ends, Harish Rawat claims victory
NEW DELHI: Amid tight security, a floor test was held today in the Uttarakhand Assembly to ascertain whether ousted Congress chief minister Harish Rawat still enjoys a majority in the House.
In addition to Rawat himself claiming victory, an opposition lawmaker also indicated that Rawat will return as chief minister. He will need at least 31 members to claim a majority on the floor.
The former chief minister is said to have got the vote of 33 of the 61 MLAs. A BJP lawmaker said only 28 MLAs voted for the BJP in the 61-member House. Independent MLA Harish Chandra Durgapal claimed that all six Progressive Democratic Front MLAs – that is, two BSP, 1 UKD and three Independents – have for Rawat.
Of course, officially, the result of today’s confidence vote will be presented only tomorrow – in a sealed envelope – to the Supreme Court.
“The cloud of uncertainty hovering over Uttarakhand will disappear tomorrow,” the former CM said after voting in the assembly.
Just before the voting began BSP chief Mayawati said her party will be supporting the Congress party. Separately, Congress MLA Rekha Arya said she would support the BJP, while BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya said he would support the Congress.
The Principal Secretary (Legislative Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs) of Uttarakhand government oversaw the conduct of the floor test for which President’s Rule was kept in abeyance for two-and-a-half hours from 10:30 AM.
The proceedings were video-graphed. The result of today’s confidence vote will be presented tomorrow, in a sealed cover, to the Supreme Court.
“Uttarakhand will win today,” Rawat said, ahead of the floor test.
“We’re in complete majority. We have numbers. We’ll prove majority,” said Indira Hridayesh, another Congess leader, before the trust voted began.
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The nine rebel MLAs, who have been disqualified, weren’t allowed to vote in the floor test. The Supreme Court yesterday rejected their plea against disqualification after the Uttarakhand High Court did the same.Ganesh Joshi of the BJP claimed that it was a ‘constitutional’ victory for the BJP, because nine MLAs of the Congress had voted for the BJP in the past and now one more MLA has voted for the BJP. Uttarakhand plunged into a political crisis when nine Congress legislators, including former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, revolted against their own government during a debate over an Appropriation Bill on March 18 during the Budget Session of the Assembly.
The Centre then imposed President’s Rule in Uttarakhand on March 27 saying Rawat lost his majority when the nine Congress legislators rebelled. Thereafter, the Speaker disqualified the nine Congress rebels under the Anti-Defection law.
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