The Congress had earlier dissolved all nine district units of the party in the state. “It will be tested on the floor of the House at an appropriate time”, party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.
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On his part, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat at a Press conference in Dehradun accused the BJP of murdering “both democracy and secularism in Uttarakhand”, while the Congress expelled Saket Bahuguna and State Congress joint secretary Anil Gupta for anti-party activities.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat – who has been asked by Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly before Monday, March 28 – is now engaged in hectic efforts to gather and secure his flock of lawmakers.
He said, in 70 member Uttarakhand Assembly, 36 MLAs including Congress rebels are against the Rawat government.
Apart from Azad, the Congress delegation comprised of senior party leaders AK Antony, Motilal Vora, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel and Kapil Sibal.
The Congress and the BJP have also made a decision to knock the doors of President Pranab Mukherjee when their delegations will meet and put their cases before him. The delegation was led by BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. “This government at the Centre is undermining political stability in this country by destabilising the border states”, he added.
Harish Rawat, meanwhile, accused BJP of “using money power to overthrow Chief Ministers, dispensing them like dirty handkerchiefs”.
The Congress government in Uttarakhand is facing a major crisis with 9 MLAs rebelling against Rawat and the BJP, which has 27 MLAs, staking claim to form the government.
“But I leave the task of deciding whether what happened was right or wrong on the enlightened people of the state”, he said.
“We informed the President that BJP leaders held our MLAs captive in a bus against their wishes, and produced them before Governor K.K. Paul and now forcing them to issue statements. We accepted the recommendation of the disciplinary committee and expelled them for six years”, State Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay said.
Vijay Bahuguna’s son and Congress candidate from Tehri Lok Sabha seat Saket Bahuguna faced the severe disciplinary action following the revolt by nine Congress MLAs. The Uttarakhand Speaker has, at the behest of the Congress, issued notices against them for defection and they have to reply by Saturday why they should not be disqualified from the state Assembly.
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Rawat is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi today to meet the Congress leadership, apprising them of the current political condition in the state and discuss the next course of action.
