Congress tussle for power in Uttarakhand still persists: Tamta

New Delhi, Mar 15 (ANI): With the stalemate in Uttarakhand continuing even days after the party high command's decision to chose Vijay Bahuguna as the chief minister, Congress leader Pradeep Tamta on Thursday said the talks to provide justice to Harish Rawat had failed to gain momentum even though he enjoyed the support of a majority of legislators.

"If the talks were moving in a positive direction, then you would not have witnessed this ruckus. This means that the situation is still stagnant. So, our struggle for justice is still going on. This fight is not related to an individual but is related to the future of Uttarakhand state," said Tamta.

"We will not let down the mandate of our people. We have also proved that the Congress legislators do not have majority but the majority lies with Harish Rawat, which the entire nation witnessed during the swearing-in ceremony of Vijay Bahuguna," he added.

Tamta also clarified media reports that Rawat had refused to go to Parliament.

"Harish Rawat has never said that he will not go to the Parliament. I am going to the Parliament today and Rawat has already clarified that he does not want to create any problem for the Congress party. The solution is to be found by those very people who have created this problem," he added.

Rawat skipped Parliament and the Railway Budget presentation on Wednesday.

Congress Party had earlier on Wednesday defended its decision to select Vijay Bahuguna as Uttarakhand Chief Minister instead of senior leader Harish Rawat, saying there is no difference within the party and the matter will be solved after due consultations.

Terming the ongoing row over the appointment of Bahuguna as hype created by the media, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said: "There is no difference within the party of any kind. This is an internal matter of the party. It is not necessary for the MLAs to be present there. It never happens that all the MLAs are present during the swearing-in-ceremony of the chief minister. This is media hype. The matter will be solved after due consultations within the party.

"I assure you everything will be normal. Vijay Bahugunaji is the new chief minister of Uttarakhand, he has taken the oath of office. The party is committed to solve the problems the people of the state faced in the last five years," he added.

Harish Rawat, who was seen as a frontrunner for the Uttarakhand chief minister's post, had earlier offered to resign from the cabinet following Bahuguna's selection for the top post.

According to reports, Rawat sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had also written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying that he would prefer to work as a party worker.

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)