SC declares Harish Rawat as winner, Centre to revoke President’s rule
NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared deposed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat as the winner of the floor test in the Assembly.After hearing government’s side, the top court said Harish Rawat can take charge as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
In Uttarakhand floor test, Harish Rawat got 33 votes out of 61 qualified members.Mr. Rawat got 33 votes out of 61 in the floor test and he will assume office as Chief Minister after President’s rule is revoked, the court said, allowing the Centre to revoke forthwith the order of proclamation of President’s rule.
No irregularities were found in the voting and nine MLAs could not vote due to their disqualification, the court noted.Earlier, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that the Centre “will revoke President’s rule in Uttarakhand”. “There is no doubt that Harish Rawat has proved majority. My instructions are that the Centre will revoke the President’s rule.”
Rahul Gandhi gives it back to BJP, says `They did their worst, we did our best, democracy won in Uttarakhand`SC allowed Centre to revoke forthwith the order of proclamation of President’s rule in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday had admitted defeat after 33 legislators reportedly voted for Rawat while the opposition mustered only 28 votes in a house whose strength had been reduced from 72 to 62.
As directed by the top court, the Assembly met for a short duration Tuesday morning for the floor test which was the culmination of a number of twists and turns after the Union Cabinet brought the state under Central rule on the ostensible ground that Congress leader Harish Rawat was indulging in horse-trading to retain power. Subsequently nine rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified.
The Assembly Speaker did not vote and nine Congress rebels legislators were not allowed to vote. Apparently, the sole nominated member also did not vote.The Supreme Court monitored the voting and said it will announce the result on Wednesday. But within minutes after the floor test, the Congress sounded triumphant.
Tuesday’s vote was called to prove whether or not Rawat enjoyed majority support after the defection by nine Congress legislators reduced his state government to a minority in the 72-member house.
