Harish Rawat's return as the chief minister of Uttarakhand on Wednesday was hailed by the Congress and the Opposition parties at the Centre as a victory for democracy.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court put its stamp on the results of the floor test in the state Assembly, which was conducted on Tuesday. It declared that Congress, led by Rawat, got 33 votes out of 61, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - that leads the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre - got 28.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the division Bench of Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh that the Centre was ready to revoke the President's rule in the state. Within two hours of getting permission from the court, the Union Cabinet met and revoked it, reinstating Rawat as the Uttarakhand Chief Minister.
Though the BJP tried to brush off any loss of face for the central government, which had enforced President's rule in the state after its Governor reported discrepancies in procedure during its Budget in March, the Opposition was upbeat.
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "They did their worst. We did our best. Democracy won in Uttarakhand! Hope (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji learns his lesson - the people of this country and the institutions built by our founding fathers will not tolerate the murder of democracy!"
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were also upbeat. Delhi Chief Minster and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "(The) Modi government should apologise to the nation for acting in (an) unconstitutional and undemocratic manner in Uttarakhand."
The CPI(M) politbureau issued a statement: "The BJP should learn that resorting to such methods is a subterfuge to remove democratically elected state governments headed by Opposition parties will not succeed."
With inputs by Kavita Chowdhury
