Sulking Congress leader Harish Rawat on Sunday said he has not received any “concrete proposals” from the Congress leadership to end the stalemate in Uttarakhand but has no intention of destabilising the Vijay Bahuguna government.
Asked whether he has received any proposals from the High Command to end the impasse, Mr. Rawat told reporters, “As such no such concrete proposals has come to compensate me. If any such proposal comes, I will discuss it with my supporters.”
Almost a week after Mr. Bahuguna took over as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Mr. Rawat said he and his supporters were not against any individual and that they were ready to cooperate.
“I said in several meetings of my supporters that Chief Minister’s post is not vacant...I have made it clear from the very beginning that the solution for the problem which has come up will be within the Congress party,” he said.
However, he hastened to add that the contention that he did not enjoy support within the party was “incorrect“.
“It was incorrect to say that I have no support in the state. But the party has the right to reject a claim, that is party’s prerogative and I am not questioning that. I just wanted to prove that point and I am thankful to MLAs,” he said.
Congress has 32 members in the 70-member Assembly and has the support of seven non-BJP members to muster the requisite majority.
Fourteen of the Congress MLAs owing allegiance to Mr. Rawat are yet to take oath, thereby posing hurdles in government formation. Bahuguna (rpt) Bahuguna had taken oath as Chief Minister last Tuesday.
Mr. Rawat said, “We do not want to create stalemate in Congress in Uttarakhand. We want Congress government to run for full five years.”
His comments came after Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday held deliberations with Mr. Bahuguna and senior party leaders to resolve the matter.
