Supreme Court to declare Uttarakhand floor test results today

All eyes are on the Supreme Court as it is slated to declare on Wednesday the results for the crucial floor test held in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Tuesday.

According to sources, the Congress has won the trust vote clinching 33 votes while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could manage only 28.

Following the floor test on Tuesday, though Harish Rawat refused to reveal the results, he and other Congress leaders flashed victory sign and thanked the Supreme Court for the floor test. Rawat had said, “I thank the Supreme Court, democratic forces, people of Uttarakhand and gods. Uttarakhand will be victorious tomorrow."

The BJP, on the other hand, appeared defensive. While BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi accused the Congress of using money power, he also conceded that the Congress had won. "Today democracy has lost and money power has won," he had said.

Just before the floor test, the Congress faced a minor hiccup with party MLA Rekha Arya siding with the BJP. But the party also gained the vote of BJP rebel MLA Bhim Lal Arya.

After excluding the nine disqualified MLAs, the Assembly has an effective strength of 62 members, of which the Congress had 27, including the Speaker, and the BJP had 28. Two independents and one Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) member also sided with the Congress while the two Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) members also backed the party.

With nine Congress rebels being disqualified, any side would need a majority of 32 to win the trust vote.