Our Correspondent /
A floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly to ascertain whether ousted Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat still enjoys a majority in the House has been completed. The floor test was conducted under the direction of the Supreme Court. The proceedings has been video-graphed and the result of the voting will be placed before the Supreme Court which will declare the result tomorrow.
For two-hour-long special session from 11 AM to 1 PM, the President’s Rule was kept in abeyance for a single agenda of vote of confidence.
The apex court also said, the voting will be overseen by Principal Secretary (Legislative Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs) in the state. The court allowed the Centre’s plea to modify its earlier order in which the designation of the officer was stated as Principal Secretary (Legislative Assembly). The Assembly will be out of bounds for media and all legislators and officials have been barred from carrying mobile phones to the House.
The Uttarakhand Assembly has 71 members, out of which 27 belongs to the Congress, excluding the nine rebels. BJP has 28 members, while there are six from other parties. Ousted Chief Minister Harish Rawat will need at least 32 members for claiming his majority on the floor. In the event of the tie, Speaker vote will be counted. The rebel MLAs will not be allowed to participate in the floor test. The Supreme Court rejected their pleas yesterday. They had moved the apex court against the Uttarakhand High Court’s decision dismissing their petition against the disqualification.