The President’s rule will temporarily be lifted on Tuesday and former chief minister Harish Rawat will seek the confidence vote in the house.
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The result of the floor test, conducted under the Supreme Court’s watch, will be formally declared on Wednesday.
The Centre had imposed President’s rule in the state on March 27.
Besides 27 Congress MLAs, six PDF members, comprising three Independents, two BSP members and one Uttarakhand Kranti Dal member voted in favour of Rawat, sources said. Rawat, looking happy and confident as he emerged from the assembly after the vote, thanked “gods and the people” for standing by him and claimed that it would become evident on Wednesday that “Uttarakhand has won”. “The clouds of uncertainty in Uttarakhand will finally shed”.
Ganesh Joshi of BJP claimed that it was a victory for BJP constitutionally because nine MLAs of Congress had voted for the BJP in the past and now one more MLA has voted for BJP. The highly anticipated Congress win was facilitated by its success in protecting its own flock while holding on to four MLAs supporting it, and the last-minute decision of Mayawati to get her two MLAs to vote for Rawat.
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”.
Sarita Arya, the Congress legislator from Nainital, said, “The Congress has won”. BJP’s Bhimlal Arya’s vote also went to Congress. Likewise, Rekha Arya of Congress voted for the rival side, he said.
Party General Secretary Digvijay Singh wished that the judiciary was “as forthright” on the issue of dismissal of the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh.
He, however, hastened to add that it is subject to the final result to be announced by the Supreme Court tomorrow.
Rawat’s problems have not ended with the floor test. He has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to New Delhi to answer charges that he tried to bribe the Congress rebels to return to his camp.
He steered clear of a question whether after winning the trust vote, Harish Rawat should dissolve the House and order fresh election.
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According to sources, the result is speculated to have gone in support of Harish Rawat Government attributed to yesterday’s refusal by both Uttarakhand High Court and the Supreme Court to revoke suspension on the nine rebel Congress MLAs.
