Uttarakhand crisis to end? Floor test on 10 May, 9 Congress rebels banned by Supreme Court

Changing its earlier stand, the Centre on Friday agreed to the Supreme Court’s suggestion for a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly on 10 May between 11 am and 1 pm. The revelation came after the apex court had granted Centre time till 6 May to apprise it about their decision on holding the floor test, resolving the political crisis in the state. Floor test in Uttarakhand Assembly will be held on 10 May from 11 am to 1 pm. The apex court ruled that the President’s rule will be temporarily lifted for 2 hours in the state when the vote of confidence will take place. Special session of U’khand assembly will be summoned for 10 May to conduct singular agenda of vote of confidence motion sought by Harish Rawat. The Supreme court has ruled that nothing else shall be discussed in the Assembly on that day and the proceedings there shall be absolutely peaceful and without any disturbance. The SC said, “We direct Chief Secretary, state DGP to see that all qualified members participate, attend the proceedings in the Assembly, without any hindrance caused to anyone by anybody. During the trust vote, those in favour of motion will sit on one side of the House and those against on other side” The Principal Secretary of the Legislative Assembly has been tasked to oversee that the voting is peaceful and recorded. The top court also directed him to place before it on 11 May in a sealed cover all the documents including the result and video of the entire proceedings. [caption id=“attachment_2768266” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The court decided that ex-CM Harish Rawat should be allowed to seek vote of confidence on the floor of the Assembly. The court banned the nine disqualified Congress MLA’s from voting in the vote of confidence motion. According to a Zee News report, the Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the SC bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti that the former chief election commissioner should oversee the voting procedure. The political crisis in Uttarakhand emerged after nine rebel MLAs from Congress defected to BJP during a debate over the state budget in March. They were later disqualified. Following the disqualification, Governor KK Paul asked deposed Chief Minister Rawat to prove his majority in the assembly. In a stunning verdict on 21 April, the Uttarakhand High Court quashed the President’s rule imposed by the Centre which restored the dismissed Congress government and castigated the Centre for uprooting a democratically-elected government. The Supreme Court delivered a major blow to the former Congress government on 23 April by staying the Uttarakhand High Court’s verdict setting aside President’s Rule in the state. The verdict effectively re-imposed President’s Rule in the state. On 27 March, the BJP-led government at the Centre had imposed President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, leading the Congress, which was in power, to term it as a ‘murder of democracy.’ The judgment gave a new turn to the continuing political drama in the state.