A day before trust vote, Centre to decide Harish Rawat government's fate

New Delhi: The political crisis playing out in Uttarakhand has reached the Centre. The Union Cabinet will meet on Sunday to decide the fate of Harish Rawat's government.

On Saturday, an emergency Cabinet meeting was called to discuss the crisis with the Centre mulling imposition of President's Rule ahead of Monday's trust vote by Congress Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

However, an unknown factor in the situation is what the Modi government at the Centre does before the confidence vote. It has secured the report from state Governor KK Paul on the latest situation in the state triggered by the revolt of the MLAs on March 18.

Cutting short a visit to Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called an emergency meeting of the Union Cabinet in the national capital which lasted over an hour late Saturday night to consider various options before the Centre, including that of President's Rule.

As the Union Cabinet went into a huddle to consider the situation in Uttarakhand, Congress insisted that its government enjoys a majority in the state assembly and denounced attempts to pull down a "duly elected government" on the basis of a "farcical sting operation".

At a hurriedly convened press conference at Congress headquarters, party general secretary Ambika Soni came down hard on the Modi government and the BJP, accusing them of destabilising the Rawat dispensation in the state.

She said the BJP was desperate to dislodge the Congress government in Uttarakhand through imposition of President's Rule despite there being no Constitutional crisis.

A BJP delegation met President Pranab Mukherjee and demanded President's Rule in the state, saying Rawat has no right to continue after a sting operation purportedly showed him bargaining with rebel party MLAs to win their support ahead of floor test.

BJP's memorandum to the President was also critical of the state Governor, saying he "did not act on the request of the majority of the legislature to dismiss the state government and on the contrary granted 10 days time" to Rawat to prove his majority.