Congress to move court against imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said he will challenge the move in Court and meet the Governor tomorrow regarding this matter.

New Delhi: Hitting out at the Centre over the imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand, Congress on Sunday said it will challenge the decision in court and show that the Narendra Modi dispensation is out to "destabilise" governments in all the states ruled by the party.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said he will challenge the move in Court and meet the Governor tomorrow regarding this matter.

He also alleged that the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre was attempting to conspire against the Uttarakhand Government, adding that it was not at all acceptable in a federal system. He added that the Centre has been after his government ever since BJP came to power.

Questioning the Narendra Modi-led government's intentions behind the decision, senior party leader Kapil Sibal said that President's Rule was imposed a day before the floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly as the Centre knew that Chief Minister Harish Rawat would be able to prove his majority.

"We will approach the courts. We will file a petition challenging the imposition of President's Rule in the state and demand its revocation," he told reporters here.

"We will explain the law to them in court. We will show the court that the people in the central government are the ones responsible for destabilising every state which is under Congress rule because their policy is to have 'Congress mukt Bharat'.

"I am shocked that any government which believes in democracy and believes in the Constitution would seek to wipe off the legacy of a party," Sibal said, alleging that BJP is a "past master in the art of horse-trading".

The senior lawyer, who has been representing the party in Supreme Court in the Arunachal Pradesh case, added that he will also raise the issue there and tell the court that the Centre will "replicate" the model in other states as well.

Attacking Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley without taking his name, Sibal said people will not spare those in the Cabinet who are well versed with the law and still took the decision.

Jaitley is believed to have briefed the President late last night about the rationale behind the Cabinet's recommendation for the imposition of President's Rule.

"What constitutes a constitutional breakdown? Were there any riots in the state? Who will say whether the Finance Bill (in the Uttarakhand Assembly) has been passed or not? The Speaker of the Assembly or Jaitley?

"Then they say that there was a sting. First you conduct a fabricated sting and then you impose President's Rule", Sibal said, adding that no Prime Minister can resort to imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand.

Congress leader and former union minister Veerappa Moily also alleged that the BJP-led NDA Government was trying to build 'anarchy' in the country with the move to recommend President's rule in Uttarakhand and said that President Pranab Mukherjee should have posed a question to the ruling dispensation before taking the decision in this regard.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asserted that his party would not bow down neither it will be deterred in wake of the latest political developments in the hill state.

President's rule was imposed in the hill state on Sunday which comes as a major setback to the Congress as Arunachal Pradesh also witnessed similar situation earlier.

The Uttarakhand Assembly has been kept in suspended animation following President's rule in the state.

The recommendation for central rule was made by the Union Cabinet at its emergency meeting last night, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier, Harish Rawat-led Uttarakhand government had been asked to prove its majority by March 28, after nine rebel MLAs of the Congress sided with the Opposition BJP to destabilise the government.

(With Agency inputs)