Uttarakhand crisis: BJP MLAs, rebel Congress leaders to meet President Mukherjee today

Taking the Uttarakhand power tussle to the President's doorstep, 35 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from the state along with the nine rebel Congress leaders will meet Pranab Mukherjee on 21 March, asking him to dismiss the state government.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said the party would put forward a request to dismiss the current state government. He told ANI:

"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".

Meanwhile, 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.

Paul has given Rawat time till 28 March to prove his majority and that has given time to Congress to deal with the nine rebel MLAs.

The Congress government in the state is under threat with nine MLAs rebelling against Rawat and the BJP, which has 27 MLAs, staking claim to form the government.

Rawat has publicly asserted that he would tender his resignation if he was unable to prove majority. Earlier, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjal issued showcause notices to the nine rebel Congress legislators, who joined the BJP leaders when they went to meet Governor KK Paul seeking the dismissal of the Harish Rawat-led government.

-- ANI