Uttarakhand crisis: Harak Singh Rawat expelled from Cabinet for 'unparliamentary conduct'

A day after he raised a banner of revolt against the Harish Rawat government, Congress MLA Harak Singh Rawat was expelled from Uttarakhand cabinet on Saturday for what the party termed was his "unparliamentary conduct" in the state assembly.

The state cabinet which met in Dehradun under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Rawat approved a proposal seeking Harak's expulsion from the cabinet, chief spokesman state Congress Mathuradutt Joshi said. When reminded that Harak, who was Agriculture Minister, had announced his resignation from the Cabinet soon after trouble erupted in the state assembly last night, Joshi said his resignation letter was never received by the state government.

Chief Minister Rawat said Harak's resignation was only for media consumption as his resignation letter had not been received by anyone. Chief Minister Harish Rawat's media advisor Surendra Aggarwal said a recommendation had been sent to Governor K K Paul seeking expulsion of Harak from the cabinet on grounds of his "unparliamentary conduct" in the House which lowered its dignity.