This Article is From Mar 09, 2012

Congress stakes claim to form govt in Uttarakhand

Congress stakes claim to form govt in Uttarakhand
Dehradun: After a photo finish in Uttarakhand, Congress, which emerged as the single largest party, staked claim to form the government in Uttarakhand today. It paraded the three independent MLAs and the lone legislator from the Uttarakhan Kranti Dal (UKD) in its support before Governor Margaret Alva.

The Congress formally staked claim before the Governor and physically paraded the four MLAs required for the party to reach the magic figure of 36 in a House of 70.

After verifying the support from the three independents and one MLA from UKD, the Governor said she would invite Congress, which has 32 MLAs, to form the new government once it elects a new leader of the CLP.

"Congress has staked the claim as it has the required number for the formation of new government in the state. When they (Congress) will elect its new leader, I will invite them to form the government," the Governor told reporters.

The three independents were Harish Durgapal from Lal Kuan seat, Mantri Prasad Naithani from Devprayag seat and Dinesh Dhanai from Tehri and the UKD MLA is Pritam Singh Panwar from Yamunotri.

"Once the leader is chosen, the swearing-in ceremony will be held," the Governor said.

From Congress' side, party general secretary Chaudhary Birendra Singh, PCC chief Yashpal Arya, leader of the opposition Harak Singh Rawat, senior party leader and Tehri MP Vijay Bahuguna were among those who were present at the Raj Bhawan.

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