Uttarakhand crisis: Congress moves high court against President’s Rule
The Harish Rawat-led government was due to prove its majority in the state Assembly today, before the Centre took over on Sunday.
Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday moved the Nainital High Court against the President’s Rule that imposed in Uttarakhand the day before. The party has said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre pushed for President's Rule because they were "worried about the good job" being done in the state. The Centre’s decision on Sunday came after nine rebel Congress legislators withdrew support from Harish Rawat’s government. They were disqualified by the state Speaker, but will reportedly challenge their disqualification.
Harish Rawat was to take a floor test in the state Assembly today, but the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre cited a constitutional crisis before they imposed President’s Rule in the state. Rawat and other Congress leaders have called it the “murder of democracy”, though Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said it was a “textbook example of breakdown of governance”. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday also opposed President's Rule in Uttarakhand and said the move was undemocratic. The state’s Governor, KK Paul, had sent three reports to the Centre on the issue. The Congress’ Harish Rawat, who has been chief minister in the state, met with state Congress leaders and Governor KK Paul on Monday.
The final nail in Rawat’s coffin appeared to be a sting operation video released by the nine rebel Congress leaders, which allegedly showed Rawat striking a deal to bribe the MLAs to return to his government. The video was aired by several Hindi news channels and distributed to the media at a press conference held last week. The editor-in-chief of Samachar Plus channel, Umesh Kumar, conducted the so-called sting operation.