Uttrakhand CM Harish Rawat to face floor test in State Assembly today

A floor test will be held in the Uttarakhand Assembly today to ascertain whether ousted Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat still enjoys a majority in the House. During the two-hour-long special session from 11 AM to 1 PM, the President's Rule will be kept in abeyance for a single agenda of vote of confidence. The floor test will be conducted under the direction of the Supreme Court. The proceedings will be video-graphed and the result of the voting will be placed before the Supreme Court tomorrow in a sealed cover.

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.

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. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the vote. Section 144 has been imposed around Uttarakhand assembly during the floor test. 

Uttarakhand had plunged into a political crisis when nine Congress legislators, including former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, revolted against their own government during a debate over an Appropriation bill on March 18 during the Budget Session of the Assembly. Thereafter the speaker had disqualified all nine congress rebels under Anti-Defection law hours after the President Rule was imposed in the state on March 27.