Amid speculation whether deposed Chief Minister Harish Rawat would be able to prove his majority on the floor of the Uttarakhand Assembly on May 10, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) geared up to prevent their MLAs from being poached by rivals.
BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya met State leaders on Thursday and took decisions on the strategies to be followed for the floor test.
Mr. Rawat has alleged that the BJP’s central leadership is making frequent visits to Dehradun to “purchase” MLAs, while Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt has accused Mr. Rawat of indulging in horse-trading.
Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Kishore Upadhyay told The Hindu , “Kailash Vijayvargiya tried to buy four of our MLAs – Ganesh Godiyal, Rajendra Bhandari, Rekha Arya and Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri – but they rejected the offer.”
With the nine disqualified Congress MLAs not participating, the six MLAs of the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) that supported the Congress government in the State could hold the key to the floor test outcome. PDF leader Mantri Prasad Naithani said the front would vote for Mr. Rawat.
Rawat will need 32 votesThe floor test will involve 27 Congress MLAs, 28 BJP MLAs, six PDF members and one nominated member. The total members to vote being 62, deposed Mr. Rawat will need 32 votes to be reinstated as Chief Minister.
