Congress expels ex-Uttarakhand CM's son for 'fomenting' rebellion

Dehradun: As the political crisis in the Uttarakhand government deepened, the Congress on Monday expelled former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna's son Saket Bahuguna and party joint secretary Anil Gupta for six years for 'anti-party' activities.  

Saket was among the nine MLAs who rebelled against the Harish Rawat government. State Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay said the disciplinary committee recommended to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) that Saket and Gupta be expelled on the basis of their statements published in newspapers and broadcasted by news channels.

The Congress government in Uttarakhand is facing a major crisis with 9 MLAs rebelling against Rawat and the BJP, which has 27 MLAs, staking claim to form the government.

Read: Uttarakhand crisis: 35 BJP, rebel Congress MLAs to meet President today

Considering the activities of Saket, who was a two-time Lok Sabha candidate from Tehri seat, and Gupta as 'anti-party', the PCC accepted the recommendation of the disciplinary committee and expelled them for six years.

Upadhyay said the party will not accept indiscipline and strict action will be taken against those who violate discipline.

Uttarakhand Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had on Sunday issued notices to nine rebel Congress MLAs asking them why they should not be disqualified from the House.

Notices were issued following a request from party chief whip and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh seeking action against them for violating the party whip in the state Assembly during voting on the Finance Bill.

The notices have been pasted on the walls of the houses of the MLAs concerned which asks them to submit their replies to the Speaker by March 26 evening.

Meanwhile, in a clear fallout over the rebellion, the Uttarakhand Congress dissolved all nine district units of the party in the state.

Read: Uttarakhand government in crisis as 9 MLAs rebel

Later in the day, 35 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from the state along with the nine rebel Congress leaders are expected to meet Pranab Mukherjee today, asking him to dismiss the state government.

"Will tell the President to dismiss the current government in Uttarakhand as they have lost majority. Harish Rawat is now trying to buy people in a fit of desperation to gain support, but he will not succeed. It is his streak of corruption that has led to this situation," said BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Rebel Congress MLA Harak Singh Rawat has written to Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul, urging him to call an Assembly Session tomorrow for the floor test.

Read: Uttarakhand political crisis: Harish Rawat floor test by March 28

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat who was set to arrive in the national capital today to discuss the political crisis in the state with the Congress leadership, has been asked by party vice president Rahul Gandhi to stay put and handle the situation there.

Read: Uttarakhand Speaker serves notice to 9 rebel Congress MLAs

Last week, Rahul had asserted that the blatant attempt to topple governments was the true face of BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP's new model, after failure in Bihar. This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal and now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modi ji's BJP. Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy," Rahul Gandhi said in a series of tweet.

In a strong rebuttal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the Sonia Gandhi-led party had 'lowered its level of ambition and was quite content in becoming the tail ender of any alliance' be it in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal or Bihar.