New Delhi: In the battle for Uttarakhand, both the Congress and the BJP are attempting to form the government after a photo finish on Tuesday. It's a classic cliff hanger that Uttarakhand has thrown up in which the Congress has an edge of just one seat over BJP. The party still believes it can form the next government with support from the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, the BSP and independent candidates.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari met BC Khanduri. Koshiyari said, "BJP will form the government in Uttarakhand. Noone has a clear majority but we will form the government."
The BJP says single largest principle should not apply in the present situation and the party which can muster numbers should be called. The BJP legislature party meeting has begun.
The kingmaker in the state could be the three BSP MLAs. Will they actually extract their pound of flesh or will they decide who will form the next government here is the big question which needs to be answered.
BJP leader Ramesh Pokhariyal said, "There is a possibility that we (BJP) too could stake claim to form government in Uttarakhand today. We will decide on this. We expected we would win with a huge margin. Something must have gone wrong."
BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar will meet legislative party members on Wednesday to discuss their plan of action to stake claim to form the government in the state.
Uttarakhand Congress leaders will meet Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday to discuss the future course of action in the keenly-contested state amid no party getting a clear mandate in the 70-member House.
There are two possible scenarios for the Congress. The first, the Congress which has won 32 seats gets the support of the three independents as well as the support of one Uttarakhand Kranti Dal member and that takes their total to 36.
The second scenario is that the Congress could join hands with three independents and three BSP members to get 38 seats.
The BJP which has won 31 seats could tie up with the three independents and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal member but this will still leave it one short of a majority. So it needs the BSP's support to form the government.
Meanwhile, both the parties are trying to woo independant candidates.
The Congress, which failed to grab power in Punjab, was humiliated in Uttar Pradesh and ousted in Goa, bettered its performance in Uttarakhand from its 2007 tally of 21.
The BJP was three down from its 34 members in the outgoing assembly while the BSP was a clear loser, given its seven seats in 2007.
BJP's Arun Jaitley said that the BSP's vote share going down has benefited the Congress, as he dismissed any anti-incumbency factor played against his party.
The major setback for the ruling BJP was the loss of Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who had led the poll campaign with a slogan of "Khanduri hain zaroori". He was defeated by Congress' SS Negi in Kotdwar constituency by over 4,500 votes.
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