President’s rule was imposed in Uttarakhand just a day before the crucial trust vote to determine the fate of Harish Rawat government on the floor of the state assembly. Central decided to impose the President’s rule following the governor’s report.
The Cabinet had recommended the imposition of Central rule in the state last night following an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The political temperature has shot up following the release of an alleged sting operation of chief minister Harish Rawat trying to buy the support of rebel Congress MLAs.
As per media reports, President Pranab Mukherjee approved the imposition of President rule in the state on Sunday.
The crisis in the state had started earlier this month, after 9 rebel MLAs of Congress party turned against their party’s chief minister.
Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had issued show cause notice to rebel MLAs, asking why they should not be disqualified under the anti-defection law.
TV Grab of the alleged sting operation of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, aired on March 26, 2016.
The decision to disqualify them would have reduced the effective strength of the 70-member house to 61, giving the Congress 27 lawmakers. The party also claims support of 6 MLAs Progressive Democratic Front.
This gives Congress the effective strength of 33, enough to win the trust vote that was scheduled for Monday.
The state BJP immediately contended that governance had completely broken down in the state and called for President’s Rule.
But release of an alleged sting video of chief minister Harish Rawat changed the situation completely as following this Union Cabinet recommended the imposition of President’s rule in the state.
Harish Rawat rubbished the sting operation and accused the journalists of a private news channel Samachar Plus for conniving with the opposition to destabilise the government.
Congress party had also accused yoga teacher Baba Ramdev for conspiring to destabilise the state government.
