BJP MLAs after the Uttarakhand Assembly floor test in Dehradun on Tuesday
The Congress, quietly exultant after apparently winning the floor test
in the Uttarakhand Assembly, is now considering whether it should call
for an early election in the State. The party had challenged the
imposition of President’s rule in the State without allowing for a floor
test, as mandated in the Bommai judgment.
Elections are due in the State early next year.
A senior leader told The Hindu that after Harish Rawat was sworn in again as Chief Minister, the party would take a call.
“After what the BJP did to topple our government, it is best not to take
chances,” he said. Another leader said: “We’ll first gauge the extent
of sympathy for Mr. Rawat before taking a decision.”
Earlier in the day, the Congress blocked the passage of the Uttarakhand
Budget in the Rajya Sabha, but party leaders said this was done “on
principle”. The Congress contention is that the Assembly had already
passed it. However, after the floor test, sources told The Hindu that neither side was likely to press the issue.
Gloom in BJP camp as calculations go wrong
After the apparent failure to defeat Harish Rawat in the floor test on
Tuesday, a pall of despondency descended over the Bharatiya Janata Party
headquarters here, even as party leaders tried to strike a defiant
note.
If senior BJP leaders avoided any public comment here, party in charge
for the State Kailash Vijayvargiya said in Dehradun, “Today, the BJP has
added one MLA from the Congress [Rekha Arya who crossed over],
therefore we can say we have gained.” Now, Mr. Vijayvargiya may have to
take out his political calculator and explain the debacle to the high
command.
“We ended up handing back Harish Rawat the chief minister’s chair and
the ‘bechara tag’ for the next elections,” said a senior leader who was
part of the team.
A top BJP source admitted: “We felt that since nine MLAs had turned
rebel, and a money bill was being debated in the Assembly, we could make
a credible case of the government having lost its mandate.”
Source: The Hindu
Source: The Hindu
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