Trouble brews for the new Congress govt in the hill state ahead of the March 26 floor test.
Four days ahead of the crucial vote of trust in the Uttarakhand assembly on the Congress-led Vijay Bahuguna government, the BJP on Thursday secretly lodged its 30 MLAs four independents and three Congress MLAs of the hill state at a hotel in the holy city of Ujjain, presumably to stall horse trading.
Uttarakhand’s in-charge general secretary of BJP Thawarchand Gehlot is supervising their stay here. Gehlot, a former MP, hails from Shajapur, a neighbouring district of Ujjain.
The Vijay Bahuguna government is slated to be put to vote of confidence on March 26. Admitting to the MLAs arrival in Ujjain, state BJP president Prabhat Jha told reporters that they are on pilgrimage. “The MLAs will be taken to Omkareshwar and then Mandu on Friday”.
Jha, however, denied that the MLAs tour has any thing to do with government formation in Uttarakhand.
A powerful minister from Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, claimed that the exercise is very much aimed at government formation in Uttarakhand.
“We have 37 MLAs including three from Congress and four independents. The party will stake the claim for government on March 26”, he told DNA.
A senior BJP leader accompanying the MLAs exuded confidence that the Congress-led government will fall during the trust vote. “Bahuguna will fail the litmus test and BJP will form the government in Uttarakhand”, he told DNA.
He further claimed that media wrongly reported that three of the independent MLAs are willing to support the Congress. The BJP leader also claimed the party is in touch with some Congress MLAs who do not want Bahuguna as chief minister.
The Uttarakhand MLAs arrived at Ujjain at 11.30 am. They are staying in 35 rooms booked in hotel Mittal Avenue in Nanakheda area.
Former BJP MP Thawarchand Gehlot who is party’s election in-charge in Uttarakhand, is supervising the stay of the MLAs under tight security. The hotel is kept off limits for the media and even general public.
After the assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Congress emerged as the largest party with 32 MLAs. Three independent MLAs, three BSP MLAs and one UKD MLA have declared their support to Congress, raising its tally to 39 in the 70-member assembly. The BJP won 31 seats in the assembly elections.
The BJP move to keep its flock together came hours after Bahuguna revealed that he has submitted a list of 40 MLAs to governor Margret Alwa, supporting the Congress.
Bahuguna’s nomination as chief minister evoked strong protest within the party.
Harish Rawat, a strong contender for the post, resigned from the post of Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs in protest.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}