BJP may induct Uttarakhand Cong rebel MLAs into party

The nine Uttarakhand Congress rebel MLAs may be admitted into the BJP despite strong reservations in the party’s state unit.

The fate of rebel Congress MLAs, whose disqualification is pending before courts, would come up for discussion at an Uttarakhand core group meeting convened by BJP chief Amit Shah on Wednesday. The party’s failure to get numbers to win the recent trust vote, which was a major embarrassment as it returned Harish Rawat as chief minister, will also come up for scrutiny at the meeting.   

A BJP general secretary said the party had almost decided to include the rebels led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and believed they would benefit in the coming assembly polls by their presence.

Regarding a large section of the party’s state unit being opposed to the rebels entry, the senior BJP leader said the resistance would at best delay the process of their absorption.

The rebels had met Shah here last Saturday to decide their next course of action.