Uttarakhand crisis should not be attributed to BJP: Jaitley

Addressing reporters here on the second day of the party’s national executive meet, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “There is a deep division in the Congress in Uttarakhand but it should not be attributed to the BJP.”  

“Congress makes one CM in the state then the other person of the party tries to topple it,’’ the BJP leader said. He said in Uttarakhand, majority of MLAs voted against the Finance Bill but it was declared as passed by the Speaker. 

Jaitley said for the first time the Speaker in Uttarakhand Assembly had called a failed bill to be a passed one. On whether the Uttarakhand issue figured in the BJP’s national executive meet, Jaitley said this issue needed to be discussed by the Congress in its national executive. Earlier, the Congress had accused the BJP of horse trading in Uttarakhand.  

Vice president Rahul Gandhi in a series of tweets said, ‘’Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP’s new model, after failure in Bihar. 

This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal & now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modiji’s BJP. Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy.’’

Dehradun, Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal issued notices to nine rebel Congress MLAs asking them why they should not be disqualified from the membership of the House for violating the party whip and aligning with opposition BJP. 

Main opposition BJP has meanwhile claimed that 35 MLAs including 26 from BJP and nine from Congress had already given a notice for a no-confidence motion against the Speaker to the Vidhan Sabha Secretary for his alleged failure to conduct the House in an impartial manner even before he issued the notices to the rebel Congress MLAs.

Notices have been issued to the nine rebel Congress MLAs following a request from party chief whip and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh seeking action against them for violating the party whip in the state Assembly. The notices have been pasted on the walls of the houses of the MLAs concerned which asks them to submit their replies to the Speaker by March 26 evening.