Bahuguna holds talks with senior Congress leaders

A day after expanding his cabinet, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday held talks with senior Congress leaders in New Delhi to resolve various issues confronting his government.

"We can only say that Bahuguna has held talks with some top leaders in New Delhi," a senior Congress leader said.

Following the expansion, Bahuguna's first task would be to nominate a new Speaker of the house, where Congress is banking on the support of seven non-Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Legislative Assembly.

The election of the Speaker will be held on March 26, a day before the first session of the newly-constituted assembly begins.

After the election of the Speaker, Bahuguna will have to face the crucial trust vote on the floor of the house.

In order to make the contest for the election of the Speaker more intense, BJP is also contemplating a move to field its own candidate to counter Congress, especially after
Tuesday's development when Dinesh Dhanai, an independent MLA from Tehri, was not inducted into the cabinet.

Dhanai has now openly started opposing Bahuguna, claiming that he was feeling cheated.

Another worry before Bahuguna is of continued boycott of a group of MLAs loyal to Harish Rawat. In Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony, some these MLAs supporting Rawat were absent.

Bahuguna will also discuss the issue related to another rebel leader Harak Singh Rawat, who is understood to have struck a deal with the high command for getting a cabinet berth, the Congress leaders said.

Congress is yet to decide whether Harak Singh Rawat, who was the leader of the opposition in the previous assembly, would be given the post of deputy CM. In this regard, the date of the swearing-in ceremony of Rawat as the 11th cabinet minister has not been decided.

On the other hand, it is also not clear whether Dhanai would be given a plum post.

Besides this, Nav Prabhat, a Congress MLA from Vikasnagar and an N D Tiwari loyalist, is also sulking. He was not present in Tuesday's function.

Similarly, Kunwar Pranav Singh, a MLA from Khanpur, and Jaspur MLA Shailendra Mohan Singhal are also upset because they both were expecting cabinet berths.