Continuing his tirade against the BJP leadership over the Uttarakhand political crisis, ousted chief minister Harish Rawat, presently under the scanner following the leak of a purported sting video, today said that he would volunteer himself for the Narco test before the CBI.
"If Kailash Vijayvargiya ji, Amit Shah ji and Shyam Jaju ji, the people, who were involved in horse trading, are ready for the Narco test, then I will present myself as first volunteer for the Narco test," he told reporters.
Rawat also welcomed the Nainital High Court's decision to dismiss the petition by the nine rebel MLAs seeking to vote in the confidence motion.
"We are very thankful to the High Court. We welcome their decision. We believe that we would be given justice. We are hopeful that tomorrow also, we will get justice in the assembly during the floor test," he said.
Following the Nainital High Court's decision, the rebel Congress MLAs have approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing.
The apex court is likely to hear their plea at 2 p.m.
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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, and senior advocate Amit Sibal, the counsel for Congress chief whip Indira Hridayesh, concluded their arguments in the High Court, stressing on the legitimacy of disqualification.
The nine Congress MLAs had stood against their party on March 18 and supported the BJP by asking for a division of votes on the Appropriation Bill.
Meanwhile, the Centre has also moved the Supreme Court, seeking modification of its earlier order on the Uttarakhand crisis.
The Centre has demanded that the Principle Secretary of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs should be made observer for floor test proceedings.
Earlier, the apex court had said that the disqualified MLAs would not be able to cast their votes as long as their disqualification remained.
The floor test is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Excluding the nine disqualified Congress MLAs, the floor test will involve 27 Congress MLAs, 28 BJP MLAs, six PDF members and one nominated member.
The total members to vote being 62, Rawat will need 32 votes to be reinstated as the chief minister.