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Harish Rawat, senior leader of the Congress Party and minister of state for parliamentary affairs and food process has been sulking ever since Vijay Bahuguna was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttrakhand at the instance of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Rawat, while speaking to reporters at his residence, said that it was wrong to blame him for trouble in the state.
"I am not the cause of trouble in Uttrakhand," Rawat said on Wednesday evening as he took a stroll in his garden.
He asked his supporters to remain calm and not do anything that would not be approved by the party high command. According to sources, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi spoke to Rawat on the phone and assured that justice would be done to him. Two days ago, Congress media spokesman Janardan Dwivedi has ruled out any change in the state leadership.
In the meanwhile, three more MLA's have expressed their faith in the leadership of Rawat. The number of MLAs supporting him has gone up from 17 to 20. However, the number of his slogan-shouting supporters has been dwindling day by day.
Those who favour Harish Rawat say that he was overlooked in 2002 to install Narain Dutt Tewari as chief minister of the newly carved out state and now in favour of Vijay Bahuguna.