The Congress government in Uttarakhand on Monday cleared a major hurdle with the election of its candidate Govind Singh Kunjwal as the Speaker of the Assembly by a margin of eight votes over BJPs Harbans Kapoor ahead of Chief Minister Vijay Bahugunas trust vote. Kunjwal,67,who scored a hat-trick in the recent state elections,got 39 votes and Kapoor bagged 31 votes in the 70-member Assembly,protem Speaker Shailendra Mohan Singhal said. His victory looked certain as the Congress,which has a strength of 32,had mustered the support of seven non-BJP MLAs. All the three independents,Pritam Singh Panwar,the lone member of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal,and three members of the BSP voted in favour of Kunjwal. Governor Margaret Alva is scheduled to address the new House on Tuesday and the vote on the motion of thanks for her address is likely the day after,some Congress MLAs said. Kunjwal,an MLA from Jageshwar in Almora district and a staunch supporter of Union minister Harish Rawat,pledged to maintain the sanctity of the House and said he would function without any bias. I will treat all the members equally and maintain the sanctity of the House, he said.
