No relief to Congress rebels from the Supreme Court too

Dehradun: The nine Congress rebels who had approached the Supreme Court on Monday following refusal by the Nainital high court to grant stay on their disqualification order got no relief from the apex court. It may be a sigh of relief for Harish Rawat whose fate as chief minister of Uttarakhad is to be decided on Tuesday during the floor test in assembly.

Disallowing the plea for an interim order the court fixedThursday for next hearing of the case. These rebels had gone to the Supreme Court as the Nainital High Court had rejected their plea for stay on their disqualification order.

Today’s order means that they will not participate in voting and the hope of the rival BJP to get their support has dashed to the ground. Nothing can be more pleasing for Rawat.

In light of this order the effective strength of assembly has come down to 62. After their disqualification the Congress will have 27 members in the assembly for voting. For winning the floor test it will require only 32 members’ support. As the party has the backing of the seven other members including independents Rawat can breath easy. The 27-member,BJP can hope to win only when a majority of these non-Congress members side with it.