Will Congress be reduced to 5 states today after Arunachal Pradesh trust vote?

New Delhi, July 16: The Indian National Congress is all set to get reduced to holding power in five states today. Currently the Congress rules in six states independently including Arunachal Pradesh which will witness a trust vote today.

Going by the existing numbers, it is impossible for the Congress to win the trust vote unless something dramatic takes place at the last minute.

The

led Congress has been told to take the floor test today. A request to postpone the trust vote was turned down by the governor who contended that the government appeared to be in minority.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government while holding that the imposition of President's rule was illegal. This led to the removal of the Kalikho Pul government supported by Congress rebels and the BJP.

The Congress currently holds power in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. In Puducherry the Congress rules with the support of the DMK while in Bihar it is part of a coalition with the JD(U) and RJD.

How the numbers stack up in Arunachal Pradesh:

There are 60 seats in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly of which two are vacant. After several Congress men rebelled the Tuki faction was left with just 15. His rival Pul however paraded 41 MLAs which included the rebels, members of the Peoples' Party and BJP.

Tuki in order to remain in power will need the support of at least 30 MLAs to win the house. The house strength was reduced to 58 after two MLAs had resigned. Going by these numbers it seems impossible for the Congress to win the trust vote.

The opposition meanwhile has whisked away its MLAs to a hotel in Guwahati to ensure that there is no horse trading. Tuki had sought time for the trust vote and the BJP feels that this was because he was confident that the numbers are stacked against him. He was trying to buy more time a BJP leader had said.

OneIndia News