Harish Rawat set to benefit as Uttarakhand rebels stay disqualified
Mangalore Today News Network
Dehradun, May 09, 2016: Nine party dissidents will not participate in the trust vote that the Congress’ Harish Rawat will seek in the Uttarakhand assembly tomorrow, the state’s High Court has ruled. It is advantage Harish Rawat.
Mr Rawat, who was summoned by the CBI to Delhi to appear for questioning in connection with allegations of bribery, will skip that appointment. He has sent word that he will remain in Uttarakhand capital Dehradun till tomorrow’s trust vote ends.
Tuesday’s vote of confidence was ordered last week by the Supreme Court, which also said that the nine Congress rebels cannot vote since they were disqualified by the Speaker. The High Court’s verdict on the dissidents’ plea against the disqualification was awaited to see how numbers stacked up.
Today’s verdict means that the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly’s effective strength is down to 61 with the disqualification of the rebels being upheld and Mr Rawat will now have to prove the support of only 31 lawmakers in tomorrow’s trust vote. .
On Sunday, Mr Rawat was hit with new accusations of bribery, with a local news channel airing a second sting video that allegedly shows Mr Rawat’s close aide discussing bribes offered to Congress lawmakers.
The CBI is already investigating an earlier video that claimed to show the former chief minister trying to bribe Congress dissidents to return to the party fold. Mr Rawat was to have appeared for questioning in connection with that today.
Mr Rawat has denounced both stings as doctored and accuses the BJP of blackmail. "The Centre and its BJP government is spreading divisive politics...after the May 10 trust vote, we will start a campaign against these blackmailers," he said.
"Can anything be more ridiculous and shameful than a former chief minister offering bribes to satisfy his own MLAs? This is murder of democracy," said Bhagat Singh Koshiyari of the BJP, which has threatened to move court.
The new video purportedly shows Congress legislator and key Rawat aide Madan Singh Bisht talking to one of nine Congress dissidents and alleging that Harish Rawat has paid Rs. 25 lakh each to 12 party lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s trust vote.
Harish Rawat was chief minister of Uttarakhand till the BJP-led Centre imposed President’s Rule in the state on March 27. Mr Rawat pleaded in court that he be allowed to take a floor test to show that he has the numbers to govern the state.
The Centre says Harish Rawat lost his majority when nine Congress dissidents voted against his government’s annual budget on March 18. That and the sting were proof of constitutional crisis in Uttarakhand, says the centre justifying President’s Rule.