All eyes on Uttarakhand floor test

Ahead of the floor test, Chief Minister Harish Rawat, sporting a 'tilak', on his forehead exuded confidence

The crucial floor test to ascertain whether sacked chief minister Harish Rawat has the majority in the Uttarakhand Assembly got underway this morning following Supreme Court directions with nine disqualified Congress MLAs being kept out of it.

Principal Secretary (Legislative Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs) of Uttarakhand government is overseeing conduct of the floor test for which President's Rule has been kept in abeyance for two-and-a-half hours from 10:30 am.

Ahead of the floor test, Rawat sporting a 'tilak' on his forehead exuded confidence that he would comfortably win the trust vote.

"The people are with us. The Gods Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath -- all are with us. We are all together, the people who are supporting us, we have their blessings.PDF, BSP, UKD.BJP can claim anything they want, winner will be Uttarakhand," he said outside the Assembly.

Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt said he was confident that the MLAs will listen to the voice of their conscience.

"On March 18 when the trouble erupted in the House, some members joined hands with us hearing the voice of their conscience. Today also some MLAs will pay heed to the voice of their conscience and join us," he said.

Congress leader Ambika Soni said, "We have the numbers and will win the floor test without any difficulty."

She also alleged that huge amounts had been offered by the opposite side to lure legislators "on our side".

After exclusion of the nine disqualified MLAs, the Assembly has an effective strength of 61 members. Of that, the Congress has 27 MLAs on its own and claims the backing of six-member PDF to make the ruling side's figure of 33.

Rawat needs the backing of 31 MLAs for a simple majority. The PDF comprises two of BSP, one of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and three Independents.
 

The BJP has 28 MLAs, including Bhimlal Arya, whose loyalty is in doubt. Bhimlal arrived in the Assembly in compliance with the party whip.

Interestingly, Congress MLA from Someshwar Rekha Arya arrived in the Assembly premises in the company of BJP MLAs.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the specially convened two-hour-long session during which the President's Rule will be kept in abeyance for a "single agenda" of floor test, the Supreme Court bench had said.

The trust vote comes a day after the High Court yesterday dismissed the petition of nine Congress MLAs challenging their disqualification and the Supreme Court refusing to give any relief to them.