New Delhi: Uttarakhand Congress leaders will meet Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the future course of action in the keenly-contested state amid no party getting a clear mandate in the 70-member House. Reports said that the party's chief ministerial candidate in the state will be decided in the meeting. PCC Chief Yashpal Arya, Vijay Bahuguna and other leaders are expected to meet the Congress president at around 11:30 am.
BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar will meet legislative party members on Wednesday to discuss their plan of action to stake claim to form the government in the state. BJp leader Ramesh Pokhariyal said, "There is a possibility that we too could stake claim to form government in Uttarakhand today. We will decide on this."
The Congress on Tuesday emerged as the single largest party in Uttarakhand with 32 members, ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a notch in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was routed in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, holds the key to the government formation in the hill state where it bagged three seats. The BJP got 31 while others, including independents, together got four seats whose support along with the BSP will decide who will lead the next government in the state.
The Congress, which failed to grab power in Punjab, was humiliated in Uttar Pradesh and ousted in Goa, bettered its performance in Uttarakhand from its 2007 tally of 21.
The BJP was three down from its 34 members in the outgoing assembly while the BSP was a clear loser, given its seven seats in 2007.
BJP's Arun Jaitley said that the BSP's vote share going down has benefited the Congress, as he dismissed any anti-incumbency factor played against his party.
The major setback for the ruling BJP was the loss of Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who had led the poll campaign with a slogan of "Khanduri hain zaroori". He was defeated by Congress' SS Negi in Kotdwar constituency by over 4,500 votes.
A retired army officer, Khanduri was re-appointed chief minister of Uttarakhand last September following corruption charges against his predecessor Ramesh Pokhriyal.
The BJP had Khanduri back at a time when the party was preparing for the assembly polls hoping to tame the anti-corruption tide in the state. But the plan failed to deliver the desired result.
Pokhriyal, a known Khanduri bete noire, however, won from the Doiwala constituency defeating Congress' Heera Singh Bisht by 1,272 votes.
(With additional inputs from IANS)
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