Uttarakhand HC order: Harish Rawat govt is and will always be in minority, says BJP

New Delhi: Putting up a brave front, BJP on Thursady asserted the Harish Rawat government remains in a minority and it will be proved on 29 April when it takes the floor test, after the Uttrakhand High Court restored the Congress government, revoking the President’s rule. The party, whose plans to form a government in the state came to naught following the court order, also questioned the judgement and said it was not surprised by it going by the strong observations being made by the Division Bench for the last three days. [caption id=“attachment_2703726” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Harish Rawat. PTI[/caption] “We are not surprised by the judgement. With the kind of observations being made for the three days by the court, such an order was expected. There is a question on our mind as Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who was caught in a sting, has been given relief by the court. “The Harish Rawat government was in a minority yesterday, it is in a minority today and tomorrow. It will be proved on 29 April” party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters. He has been handling the Uttarakhand affairs since the political upheaval began there. Noting that the case of nine rebel Congress MLAs against their disqualification will come up for hearing before another bench of the high court on 28 April, he wondered if the Division Bench’s order had not “prejudiced” their case. Out of the 61 MLAs in the state Assembly, excluding nine disqualified Congress MLAs and the Speaker, both Congress and BJP have 27 MLAs each while six MLAs belong to smaller outfits, who have been supporting the Rawat government. There is also a nominated member in the House. BJP is in touch with some of the six MLAs, sources said, as it works overtime to swell the numbers on its side. Party leaders also said the Centre is likely to move the Supreme Court and a direction from the apex court can change the situation. BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also met following the court’s order and are learnt to have deliberated on its implications and the options before the party and the government. With the court’s order being seen as a major blow to the Centre, Vijayvargiya claimed it was not an embarrassment to either the government or the party. “There were strong reasons for the imposition of the President’s rule,” he said, adding it was for the Centre to appeal against the order in the apex court. Referring to some of the court’s observations, including its assertion that even the President can go wrong and his decision was open to judicial review, he said it is for all to decide if such remakrs were “dignified or undignified.”