U'khand crisis: Govt. asserts Congress is making 'mockery' of democracy

New Delhi: The government today charged the Congress with playing cheap politics to remain in power in Uttarakhand, where a major power tussle in underway. Talking to media outside Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that there was rampant horse trading by the Congress in the State. "The strategy of Congress is to disqualify dissenters, keep their supporters happy and then have a floor test. This new form of democracy is baffling. They are making a mockery of the democracy," Naidu said. Asserting that the Congress party is desperate to be in power, Naidu said that the BJP has nothing to do with it and what the grand old parties' wrong strategies. "We have nothing to do with that. There was an internal problem and some people were dissatisfied and these people became dissenters and the Congress lost majority. That's why President's Rule had to be imposed. We did not dissolve the Assembly," he added. Reacting to the allegations, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said that it was the BJP which tried its best to topple the state government in Uttarakhand. Soni told reporters that the Centre and the ruling party have come on the back foot after the Supreme Court's decision to hold floor test. When asked about the sting operation on Harish Rawat, she said the sting has no legal sanctity and credibility. Replying to a media query, she asserted that Rawat will remain the face of the party for Chief Ministership. Meanwhile, Rawat welcomed the Nainital High Court's decision to dismiss the petition by the nine rebel MLAs seeking to vote in the confidence motion. "We are very thankful to the High Court. We welcome their decision. We believe that we would be given justice. We are hopeful that tomorrow also, we will get justice in the assembly during the floor test," he said. Following the Nainital High Court's decision, the rebel Congress MLAs approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing. The apex court is likely to hear their plea at 4 p.m. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, and senior advocate Amit Sibal, the counsel for Congress chief whip Indira Hridayesh, concluded their arguments in the High Court, stressing on the legitimacy of disqualification. The nine Congress MLAs had stood against their party on March 18 and supported the BJP by asking for a division of votes on the Appropriation Bill. The Centre has also moved the Supreme Court, seeking modification of its earlier order on the Uttarakhand crisis. The Centre has demanded that the Principle Secretary of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs should be made observer for floor test proceedings. Earlier, the apex court had said that the disqualified MLAs would not be able to cast their votes as long as their disqualification remained. The floor test is scheduled to take place tomorrow. Excluding the nine disqualified Congress MLAs, the floor test will involve 27 Congress MLAs, 28 BJP MLAs, six PDF members and one nominated member. The total members to vote being 62, Rawat will need 32 votes to be reinstated as the chief minister.