Political crisis

As the political crisis in the Uttarakhand government worsened, delegations of BJP and Congress leaders on Monday met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought time to prove their majority in the floor of the State Assembly. “We have requested the President to direct the Governor to dismiss Uttarakhand Government,” said BJP general secretary Vijayvargiya after the meeting. “We have also asked the President to direct the Governor to give us time to prove our majority on the floor of the house.” The four-year-old Harish Rawat government is under threat with nine-rebel Congress MLAs raising the banner of revolt and joining the BJP. With the rebels included, the Congress has 36 legislators in the 70-member Assembly. Meanwhile, the BJP has 28 MLAs. Last week, a BJP delegation of former Chief Minister and MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya met Governor KK Paul after the simmering discontent within a section of Congress legislature came to the fore on a day of fast-paced developments in the hill state. Amidst the chaos, nine Congress rebels joined the BJP in demanding a division of votes on the state’s annual budget, which could have led to the government’s fall. The rebel Congress MLAs mostly owe their allegiance to former Chief Minister and MLA Vijay Bahuguna. Suffice to say, the situation in Uttarakhand is reminiscent of what happened in Arunachal Pradesh. Critics of the NDA government have argued that the steps leading up to the constitutional crisis in both Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh are reminiscent of past attempts at destabilizing State governments ruled by Opposition parties, with the Governor playing a partisan role in the entire affair.  However, the Congress is not entirely blameless in the entire affair. There is little doubt that the party failed to contain the dissidence within its rank.