Rebel Congress MLAs return to Dehradun, to work out strategy

Former CM Vijay Bahuguna said they plan to meet governor KK Paul and lodge a complaint against the erstwhile Harish Rawat government. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion among the MLAs in this regard.

Nine Congress rebel legislators, who threw the Uttarakhand government into turmoil by switching allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party, returned to Dehradun on Thursday.

The state Congress, led by former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, has protested against the imposition of President’s Rule in the state. (File photo/PTII)

The legislators had been camping in New Delhi and Jaipur since March 18 midnight.

The MLAs, headed by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, landed here at 2 pm. The legislators are likely to chalk out their future strategy soon.

Bahuguna had told a regional TV channel on Wednesday evening that they plan to meet governor KK Paul and lodge a complaint against the erstwhile Harish Rawat government. However, there seems to be a difference of opinion among the MLAs in this regard.

Read: ‘Holding’ MLAs becomes a costly affair for parties in Uttarakhand

Umesh Sharma ‘Kaau’, an MLA from Dehradun district, said they do not have any immediate plan to call on Paul. “We could meet him (Paul) but it will be a courtesy call,” he told HT.

The nine rebels were disqualified by former speaker Govind Kunjwal on March 27, a day before the Harish Rawat government was supposed to seek the trust vote. The legislators had already filed a petition before the high court, challenging their disqualification. The next hearing in the case is on Friday.