Reports have said the Congress claimed victory after a long-awaited floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Tuesday. A Bharatiya Janata Party legislator told PTI that their party got only 28 votes during the test, implying that the Congress won.
The news comes after Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati said her party’s two Uttarakhand legislators would support the Congress. She had said that reports of a BSP deal with the BJP were false. BSP is part of the six-member Progressive Democratic Front that had supported the Congress government in Uttarakhand. The PDF had pledged allegiance to deposed chief minister Harish Rawat even before the trust vote.
On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld a high court verdict that banned nine rebel Congress MLAs from voting in the floor test, giving Congress the edge. The results of the floor test will be sent to the top court in a sealed envelope and will be announced on Wednesday, May 11.
BJP leader Teerath Sing Rawat said voting happened by way of raising hands, making the verdict known to the Assembly’s legislators. Another BJP member, Ganesh Joshi, said, ”BJP couldn’t defeat the Congress in the number game,” The Hindu reported.
Ousted chief minister Harish Rawat said uncertainty regarding the state’s ongoing political crisis would end on Wednesday. “Uttarakhand will be victorious tomorrow,” he told ANI. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi called the floor test a "victory of democracy". Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "Uttarakhand floor test outcome is a huge setback for Modi government. Hope they will stop toppling governments now."
Uttarakhand will have its next state Assembly elections in 2017.
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