Dehradun: Senior BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri on Monday said party MLA Bhimlal Arya is not joining the Congress.
Speculation is rife about Arya, an MLA from Ghansali, joining the Congress after another BJP MLA Kiran Mandal had quit his Sitarganj seat in favour of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.
Khanduri said Arya is not joining the Congress.
Uttarakhand Congress president and Revenue minister Yashpal Arya said the BJP legislator had not contacted him so far.
“The ruling party will take an appropriate action when the MLA establishes contact,” he said.
"Bhimlal has not yet approached me. I have come to know through the media that he is willing to join the Congress for development of his Ghansali constituency," the minister said.
Rattled by reports that one more party MLA is likely to quit his seat in favour of the ruling Congress, the BJP has sought a CBI probe into what it alleged horse-trading.
"One MLA (Mandal) has already been bought and there are reports that another MLA is also being purchased by the Chief Minister.
"Horse trading is taking place in a big way. We want a CBI probe into it," Ajay Bhat, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, had said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, June 18, 2012, 21:27