Speaker post: Bahuguna faces major test today

With the BJP fielding its nominee for the Uttarkhand Speakers election,the stage was set for the Congress government to face its first trial of strength in the Assembly

With the BJP fielding its nominee for the Uttarkhand Speakers election,the stage was on Sunday set for the Congress government to face its first trial of strength in the Assembly on Monday.

Congress MLA Govind Singh Kunjwal,a close confidant of Union minister Harish Rawat,and BJP MLA Harbans Kapoor filed nominations for the post of Speaker in the Assembly on Sunday. It will be the first time that elections for the post of Speaker will be held in the 12-year-old hill state.

The Congress has already claimed the support of 39 MLAs in the House of 70 where the BJP has a strength of 31. The Congress is banking on the backing of seven non-BJP MLAs,including three Independents,who have already given their letter of support to Governor Margaret Alva.

The Congress has attempted to woo the MLAs of the faction led by Rawat by putting up a candidate from his camp. During the filing of nominations,Kunjwal was accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and all Congress MLAs besides Rawat,who made his first appearance in the state ever since he lost the race for chief ministership to Bahuguna.

Talking to reporters,Bahuguna said there are no fissures in the Uttarakhand Congress and all MLAs are united. He expressed confidence that Kunjwal would comfortably win the election to become the Speaker. Our candidate would comfortably win the elections tomorrow as we have the support of a total of 39 MLAs in the 70-member House, Bahuguna said.

Rawat also expressed similar views and said the government would complete its five-year term. He,however,called for a review of the partys performance in the recent Assembly polls in Uttarakhand where it fell short of majority and said the CM should take steps to fulfil the aspirations of his supporters. The CM has taken some steps to fulfil the aspiration of our supporters and some more steps have to be taken, he told reporters. Referring to his stand on creation of two posts of deputy chief ministers,Rawat said the decision has to be taken by the party high command.

BJP leaders remained skeptical about the outcome after filing the nomination papers of Kapoor,a former Assembly Speaker. This government is not running due to internal crisis in the Congress, said BJP leader and former CM Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.