Grappling with a rebellion within the Congress, Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna on Friday met party president Sonia Gandhi who also discussed strategies with other party leaders to defuse the crisis in the hill state.
The meetings on the situation the four-day-old Congress government is faced with came against the backdrop of 14 party MLAs, considered loyal to Union minister Harish Rawat who revolted against the appointment of Mr Bahuguna as the state chief minister, still to take oath after three more party MLAs took oath on Friday.
Pradip Batra (Roorkee), Kunwar Pranav Singh “Champion” (Khanpur) and Jitram (Tharali) were administered oath by protem Speaker Shailendra Mohan Singhal.
Mr Bahuguna rushed to Delhi and had a meeting with Mrs Gandhi in New Delhi. Details of what transpired at the meeting were immediately not known.
The chief minister is expected to request Mrs Gandhi to resolve the crisis in the state Congress, a party MLA close to Mr Bahuguna said in Dehra Dun ahead of the meeting.
The Congress core group discussed the political crisis in Uttarakhand at its meeting which was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh among other leaders.
Senior Congress leaders, like Indira Hridayesh and Harak Singh Rawat, are the prominent faces of the state Congress who have still not taken oath. When contacted, Mr Singhal, however, said he has no information regarding the remaining 14 Congress MLAs who have still not taken the oath. Congress has 32 MLAs.
“I have no information regarding the remaining Congress MLAs who are still to take oath,” Mr Singhal said.
A total of 17 Congress MLAs had not taken oath much to the chagrin of Mr Bahuguna, who faces the challenge of winning the trust vote on the floor of the state Assembly in the wake of revolt in the party against his leadership.
Mr Bahuguna will have to prove his majority on the floor of the House which will meet for the first time from March 26.
Scores of Congress workers on Friday evening took out a candle march in Dehra Dun to show solidarity with Mr Rawat.
“This is our march to show solidarity with our leaders, like Harish Rawat and Sonia Gandhi,” said Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar.