Congress hails judgment on Uttarakhand government

A triumphant Congress attacked the Centre, hailing the Uttarakhand High Court judgment as a reminder that “the BJP should stop casting its avaricious eyes on the governments in Himachal Pradesh and Manipur”.

The High Court has quashed President’s Rule, restored the Harish Rawat government in the State and paved the way for a floor test on April 29.

CPI(M) too joined the Congress describing the High Court verdict as a “slap on the face of the BJP-led government”.

The BJP cancelled its official briefing after having been roundly snubbed by the High Court. The party’s General Secretary in charge of Uttarakhand Kailash Vijayvarghiya surfaced late afternoon to make a terse statement.

“The court’s direction was expected given the observations that were being made for the last three days,” Vijayvarghiya said.

He also asserted that the BJP is still the single largest party in the State. Although he did not comment on whether the order will be challenged in the Supreme Court, a source said a meeting was underway in Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence to discuss the issue.

The elected strength of the Congress was 36 MLAs in the 71-member Uttarakhand Assembly (one nominated member) while it also enjoyed the support of the six-member Progressive Democratic Front (PDF). The BJP had 28 MLAs. Of these 28, one MLA Bhim Lal Arya has been suspended from the BJP for violating the party whip by remaining absent during the passage of the appropriations bill on March 18.

After the disqualification of nine Congress MLAs, including former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, by the Speaker on March 27, the Congress strength is down to 27 MLAs. It still claims the support of the six-MLA-strong PDF. Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who addressed a press conference in the State capital Dehradun, maintained that his party was “more than ready” to face the floor test on April 29 and that the BJP has already been “roundly defeated”.

Congress spokesperson and senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who argued Harish Rawat’s case in the High Court, said that since the court has not granted a stay on the disqualification of nine rebel Congress MLAs, they still stand disqualified and the floor test will be held in their absence.

As such, the functioning strength of the assembly will be 61. However, the hearing on the disqualified MLAs’ petition is on April 28, a day before the trust vote.

After receiving the court verdict, a smiling Singhvi appeared in the All India Congress Committee office in Delhi to thank the judiciary and attack the ruling BJP for its “unprecedented and shocking misuse of Article 356”.

“The law was deliberately violated by those who should have known better. The Central Government is the custodian of the rare emergency powers under Article 356. Not just Bommai (SR Bommai-vs-Union of India) but several subsequent judgements have analysed every aspect of this law… Never before in our history has 356 been invoked 48 hours before the floor test. Never before has there been such a blatant interference through the misuse of Article 356,” said Singhvi.

The Cabinet depended on a BJP letter and a so-called sting operation to dismantle a democratic government, a move that has been decisively struck down by the High Court, he added.

The political crisis in Uttarakhand had started on March 18 when nine Congress MLAs, along with 27 BJP legislators, opposed the appropriations Bill in the Assembly. These rebel MLAs subsequently joined the BJP legislators in urging the Governor KK Paul to dismiss the Congress government.

The Governor gave Chief Minister Harish Rawat time till March 28 to prove his majority. In the meantime, a sting operation surfaced in which the Chief Minister was allegedly heard “buying support”. A day prior to the trust vote, the Centre imposed President’s Rule in the State.