Rebel Uttarakhand MLAs reach Delhi, Rawat warns of action

After urging Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul to dismiss the incumbent Harish Rawat-led Congress government, 26 Bharatiya Janata Party members of the Uttarakhand legislative assembly, along with nine rebel Congress MLAs, reached Delhi in a 72-seater charted flight late on Friday night.

However, it was not immediately clear as to whom they would be meeting in the national capital.

Rebel Congress MLA and former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, who also reached Delhi, said he is surprised why CM Harish Rawat has not resigned so far on moral grounds.

“We met the governor today and convinced him that this government is in a minority and he should dismiss it,” Bahuguna said at Dehradun’s JollyGrantAirport before leaving for Delhi.

After arriving in Delhi, Bahuguna said that this (Harish Rawat) government was involved in massive corruption and taking Uttarakhand to the path of destruction.

BJP leader Ajay Bhatt said that they would stake a claim to form a government after the governor dismisses the present government.

“We have 35 MLAs and Congress has 32 MLAs. When the voting took place, our 26 and nine Congress MLAs voted, while three were absent. Out of the three, one of our MLAs was arrested, so we have clear majority...We have not staked a claim yet. Let this government be dismissed first,” he said.

Echoing similar views, BJP leader Shyam Jaju said, “We have requested the governor to immediately dismiss the government. We have 35 MLAs, nine from the Congress and 26 from the BJP.”

Rebel Congress MLA Harak Singh Rawat said, “After this government is dismissed, we’ll give a healthy government to the state.”

Meanwhile in Dehradun, beleaugered CM Harish Rawat claimed he has ‘full majority’ and warned of disciplinary action against the rebels.

“We have full majority. All our members are in tact. The figures being touted (about our government’s strength being reduced) are totally wrong,” he told reporters.

He said if some Congress MLAs, ‘being lured’ by the BJP, are making any claim, the party would take cognisance of it and ‘whatever action is taken within the party in such cases will be taken.’

Rawat said the party will find out who the rebel Congress MLAs are and ‘so far, only one face has come to the fore’.

The chief minister accused the Opposition of horse-trading and dared it to move a no confidence motion, saying he was ready to prove majority in the House.