Snubbed Harish Rawat to float party?

Congress crisis in Uttarakhand seems to be far from getting over as its senior party leader Harish Rawat, abstained from Parliament reportedly despite requests to fall in line.

Rawat is under strong pressure from his supporting MLAs to lead the vote against Vijay Bahuguna whenever the trust vote takes place. With the support from two MPs – Pradeep Tamta (Almorah) and KC Singh Baba (Nainital) and 18 MLA including senior state leaders Harak Singh Rawat, Pritam Singh Panwar, Yashpal Arya, Surender Singh Negi, BS Mehar and Indira Hridesh backing him, Rawat, reportedly, has conveyed to central leadership that he will form Uttarakhand Congress and stake claim for the chief ministership.

It is learnt that the Congress high command has conveyed to him that he has weakened the party's position in Uttarakhand by putting up rebel candidates, hence, CM's post is not for him. The Congress party believes that the crisis will blow away in day or two and the matter will be resolved. However, there are many in the Congress who sympathise with Rawat and feel he got a raw deal.