New Delhi: Sulking Congress leader Harish
Rawat on Sunday said he has not received any "concrete proposals"
from the Congress leadership to end the stalemate in
Uttarakhand but has no intention of destabilising the Vijay
Bahuguna government.
Asked whether he has received any proposals from the High
Command to end the impasse, Rawat told reporters here, "As
such no such concrete proposals has come to compensate me. If
any such proposal comes, I will discuss it with my
supporters."
Almost a week after Bahuguna took over as Chief Minister
of Uttarakhand, Rawat said he and his supporters were not
against any individual and that they were ready to cooperate.
"I said in several meetings of my supporters that Chief
Minister`s post is not vacant...I have made it clear from the
very beginning that the solution for the problem which has
come up will be within the Congress party," he said.
However, he hastened to add that the contention that he
did not enjoy support within the party was "incorrect".
"It was incorrect to say that I have no support in the
state. But the party has the right to reject a claim, that is
party`s prerogative and I am not questioning that. I just
wanted to prove that point and I am thankful to MLAs," he
said.
Congress has 32 members in the 70-member Assembly and has
the support of seven non-BJP members to muster the requisite
majority.
Fourteen of the Congress MLAs owing allegiance to Rawat
have yet to take oath, thereby posing hurdles in government
formation. Rawat had taken oath as Chief Minister last
Tuesday.
Rawat said, "We do not want to create stalemate in
Congress in Uttarakhand. We want Congress government to run
for full five years."
His comments came after Congress President Sonia Gandhi
today held deliberations with Bahuguna and senior party
leaders to resolve the matter.
PTI
