Nine rebel Congress MLAs went on a religious sojourn to Pushkar along with 27 BJP MLAs on Friday, a confirmation that Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat’s efforts are not yielding any results.
Led by Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Ajay Bhatt, all of them left by bus from their hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur and reached Pushkar Friday morning.
They offered prayers at the holy Pushkar sarovar and Brahma temple and also visited Ajmer before returning to their hotel on the Ajmer Road.
The Congress MLAs claimed they would dislodge the Harish Rawat government and form government with the BJP. They claimed that Mr Rawat does not have a majority in the House and its fall is imminent. They also accused the Rawat government of massive corruption.
Chief minister Harish Rawat will have to face a floor test on Monday to prove his majority.
There were reports that the party high command had asked him to recommend to the governor to dissolve the House but he had sought more time to win over the rebels.
But the presence of the rebel MLAs here along with those of the BJP, and with no chance of any communication as they are always surrounded by the BJP leaders, makes Mr Rawat’s task quite difficult.
All the MLAs have been kept under strict vigil. Local BJP leaders have been put in charge of all arrangements and no one is allowed to enter the hotel without their clearance.
The party has also deployed bouncers at the hotel to keep a close eye on every visitor.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Joshi, the BJP MLA from Mussoorie who had gone to jail for allegedly mercilessly beating police horse Shaktiman, also joined his fellow party legislators two days ago. He came to Jaipur barefoot straight from jail and went to buy a pair of slippers in the city. He claimed that he did not break the horse’s leg. “The horse broke his leg as it was trapped in a pit. I am being framed by the Rawat government. The court has given me bail after looking at evidence,” Mr Joshi said, alleging that the police arrested him to ensure he didn’t take part in voting.
