Last night, reports said 9 Congress legislators from Uttarakhand were disqualified by Speaker
Condemning the BJP for what he called the efforts to "murder democracy", Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today pointed out that there was a "procedure" for the imposition of President's Rule. The Congress, he said, was ready to go the people to give the BJP a fitting reply.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
"The BJP continues to threaten Uttrakhand with President's Rule," said Harish Rawat. But there is a procedure for President's Rule, which has emerged following precedence."
"They (BJP) attacked democracy with money and muscle power," Mr Rawat said. "Yesterday, the way a former Chief Minister asked for the removal of the Governor is condemnable. I appeal to right-thinking people to condemn these attempts by the BJP to murder democracy."
Calling Uttarakhand an internal problem of Congress, Union minister Arun Jaitley has said, "Everything that can go wrong with constitutional functioning has happened in Uttarakhand. It is a textbook example of breakdown of governance."
Lawyers of the nine Congress lawmakers from Uttarakhand who had rebelled against Mr Rawat are likely to meet Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal today amid reports that they have been disqualified.
Last night, reports said the Speaker has disqualified the 9 lawmakers after his meeting with the Chief Minister. The Speaker had given the rebel lawmakers time till March 26 to explain why their assembly membership should not be terminated. The BJP has called the decision "unconstitutional".
The reported decision to disqualify the nine legislators will reduce the effective strength of the 70-member assembly to 61. The ruling Congress will then have 27 lawmakers, besides six supporters from the Progressive Democratic Front, giving it a strength of 33 - enough to win Monday's trust vote. The opposition BJP has 28 legislators.
As the crisis in Uttarakhand deepened, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an hour-long emergency meeting last night to consider various options, including President's Rule.
Earlier in the day, the rebel Congress legislators released a sting video of Chief Minister Rawat, alleging he is indulging in horse-trading to save his government.
The video purportedly shows CM Rawat bargaining with rebel party lawmakers to win their support ahead of Monday's floor test. Mr Rawat has accused the journalist who conducted the sting of conniving with Opposition parties to destabilise his government.
Reacting to the video, the BJP demanded President's Rule in the state, saying Mr Rawat has no right to continue as chief minister. A delegation from the party also met President Pranab Mukherjee to put forward their demand.
