The BJP suffered a major setback in Uttarakhand with one of its MLAs
resigning from the party to join the Congress. The MLA from Sitarganj
Kiran Mandal submitted his resignation to assembly speaker Govind Singh
Kunjwal in Dehradun on Wednesday.
With this the BJP has lost one
seat and its strength came down to 30 in the Uttarakhand assembly. The
Congress with 32 seats and support of three BSP, one Uttarakhand Kranti
Dal and three independent MLAs (total 39) had formed the government.
Kiran
Mandal said, "I have made this sacrifice for the development of my
area." Mandal decided to quit BJP after Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay
Bahuguna promised to fulfill his three demands.
Mandal is
demanding permanent resident status for all Bengalis settled in his
assembly constituency, land ownership right to lease holders and also
scheduled caste status for Namo Sudro people in Uttarakhand.
Kiran
Mandal resigned also on the condition that Bahuguna will contest the
assembly by-election from Sitarganj seat. Mandal will officially join
Congress on Thursday.
The Sitarganj MLA was untraceable since the
past one week. This forced the BJP to allege that Congress was
indulging in horse-trading. The BJP leaders met Uttarakhand governor
Aziz Qureshi on Tuesday evening and charged the Congress with keeping
their MLA hostage.
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