Bahuguna takes oath as U'khand CM

Dehradun, Mar 13 (ANI): Vijay Bahuguna, the Member of Parliament representing Tehri Garhwal, was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttarakhand here on Tuesday evening.

Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva administered the oath of office to Bahuguna at the Dehradun Parade Ground.

A total of ten out of the 32 Congress MLAs were present at the oath-taking ceremony. The remaining lawmakers were campaigning in New Delhi demanding the appointment of Harish Rawat as chief minister.

The latest developments came after the Congress Core Committee earlier in the day finally decided to consider Bahuguna for the top post.

Bahuguna had also earlier today denied reports of a rift within the party over his selection for the top post in Uttarakhand.

A former Judge of the Allahabad and Bombay High Courts, Bahuguna is vice-president of Uttarakhand unit of Congress and is a second-term MP representing Tehri Garhwal.

Bahuguna hails from a political family. His father Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and his sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi was till recently the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress unit.

In the 70-member Assembly, Congress had emerged as the largest party with 32 MLAs and has the support of three independent MLAs and one from UKD. The Bahujan Samaj Party, having strength of three members, has pledged its unconditional support to Congress, raising its tally to 39. (ANI)