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After interesting twists and turns and a court battle, the Harish Rawat-led Congress government has won the trust vote in Uttarakhand.
Though the result of the floor test is expected to be formally announced on Wednesday, after a 90-minute video recording of the Assembly proceedings is presented in the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope, Congress MLAs claimed victory and BJP MLAs conceded as much.
An upbeat Congress demanded that the Narendra Modi-led government publicly seek an apology for dismissing the State government using Article 356 to impose President’s rule.
As directed by the Supreme Court, the Uttarakhand Assembly met for a short duration on Tuesday morning for the floor test.
The after-effect of the floor test was felt in Parliament, too. The Opposition did not allow the Centre to pass the Uttarakhand Budget in the Rajya Sabha. The elders requested the Chair to postpone the matter to Wednesday.
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, however, ruled that the matter could be taken up as the State was under President’s rule. Kurien, accepting the argument of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the expenses between April 1 and May 9 should be approved by Parliament as the State was under President’s rule.
The Opposition, however, objected saying that the Assembly had passed the Budget and Finance Bill.
Congress MLA Sarita Arya claimed that 33 MLAs voted for Rawat while BJP MLAs conceded only 28 voted for them. One MLA each from the rival sides — Bhimlal Arya (BJP) and Rekha Arya (Congress) are believed to have cross voted. The 33 MLAs backing the Congress included six of the PDF — comprising BSP’s two, UKD’s one and three Independents.
“The cloud of uncertainty hovering over Uttarakhand will disappear tomorrow,” Rawat said after the vote took place.
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