The Uttarakhand High Court's verdict setting aside imposition of President's rule in the state today spurred an elated Congress to attack the BJP, demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah for "trampling" democracy and "murdering" constitution.
The verdict is a slap on face of BJP for trying to dislodge an elected government, it said.
Terming the court's verdict as a victory of people of Uttarakhand, democracy and constitutional norms, AICC Incharge Communications Randeep Singh Surjewala said Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah should learn a lesson from this "decisive and resounding verdict.
"This is a victory for the people of Uttarakhand, democracy and constitutional norms. This is also a slap on the face of those in BJP who sought to dislodge an elected government, elected with the mandate of people in Uttarakhand.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will be well advised to now tender an unconditional apology to the nation and also to people of Uttarakhand for trampling upon democracy, murdering constitution norms and subjugating the will of people to their blind quest to dislodge Congress governments. We welcome the verdict," Surjewala said.
He said that it proves the full majority which Congress enjoys and the "sinister conspiracies" which are being hatched from Arunanchal Pradesh to Uttarakhand and many other states to dislodge elected governments by "foul means, use of money and muscle power" should now at least come to an end.
"Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah should learn a lesson from this decisive and resounding verdict," he said.
Putting up a brave front, BJP claimed the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand is in minority and that this will be proved on April 29.
The kind of observations the state High Court has been making for last three days, we are not surprised by its order, BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
Union Minister and BJP leader Kiren Rijiju said that blaming the central government for something which was a creation of the Congress is "unfortunate".
"We all respect the court verdict. I have nothing to comment on it but just to blame the central government for a particular situation which has been created by Congress party, that is unfortunate. It is congress party's creation, not ours (BJP)," he said.
Dealing a major blow to Modi government, the Uttarakhand High Court today quashed the imposition of President' rule in the state and revived the Congress government headed by Harish Rawat, who has been asked to prove his majority on April 29.
Coming down heavily on the Centre for the March 27
proclamation under Art 356, a division bench of the high court headed by Chief Justice K M Joseph said the imposition of the President's rule was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
In Dehradun, an upbeat Rawat all set to get back to office, said his government does not want to fight with the "mighty, powerful and broad-chested" Centre, but asked it to work in a spirit of cooperative federalism.
Asking the Modi government to forget the recent developments and cooperate, Rawat said he has also asked his colleagues to let go off the bitterness and work together to take the state forward on the path of development.
Left parties lambasted the Modi government, saying the high court verdict was a "slap to the subverters" of the Constitution.
"The anti-constitutional juggernaut of BJP's central government has been halted in its tracks by the judiciary in Uttarakhand. It is a slap to the subverters of the Constitution," CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said.
Rijiju, the Minister of State for Home, was dismissive about whether it was a "mistake" on BJP's part and blamed the Congress for creating such a situation in the state.
"Its not a question of embarrassment or mistake on our part. It was the situation created by the Congress party. They were in the government, they were having a majority with support of some MLAs. There was a revolt by 9 MLAs, reducing the government to a minority. How is BJP responsible for that situation?
"With regards to observation of the court, I do not have to say anything because we all have our defined role. We in the executive have our own role to play and judiciary has its own role to play. We do not have to comment on each other's observations or judgements. We honour whatever decision has been passed by the court," he said.
Asked about BJP's role in a similar situation in Arunachal Pradesh, he said that the situation in Uttarkhand and Arunanchal Pradesh was "not comparable".
"There are slightly different situation within the Congress party. In Arunachal Pradesh, it is the Chief Minister who had lost the majority. They had disqualified some of the MLAs by using the Speakers position.
"In Uttarakhand, it is just a simple revolt within the Congres party where the finance bill was not supposed to pass without majority and they forcefully tried to pass it by voice vote. It is not a comparable situation in case of Arunanchal and Uttarakhand," he said.
Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Anand
Sharma said the Prime Minister, the Central government and the BJP stood "exposed" for "abusing their authority".
"The Prime Minister, his government and the BJP stand exposed for abusing their authority, misusing the provisions of the Constitution, destabilising democratically-elected governments, using questionable undemocratic means and methods, huge resources and allurements.
"The Prime Minister and the Home Minister need to apologise for the sin that was committed. BJP also stands condemned for its double standards, its hypocrisy and brazen political opportunism," he said.
Asked about BJP's claims of challenging the High Court verdict on the plea that they had the majority, Sharma said, "they needed this time apparently to manufacture something."
He said if they had the majority, then why President's Rule was imposed on a Sunday, a few hours before the trust vote was asked for by the Governor of Uttarakhand and after the Speaker had convened the session.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, "The verdict of the Uttarakhand High Court is not just a victory for the Congress party but a victory for democracy."
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, "Power is available only through democratic means not through misuse of Art 356."
He added, "This judgement reminds us that those eyeing other states with avaricious eyes must control their greed....This deplorable process of debasing federalism & democracy is arrested by this judgement."
"As we said, we are giving horses a bad name. Ultimately the law is clear. That law was violated by the Centre," he also said.
Reacting to High Court verdict, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "This is a huge embarrassment to Modi Govt. He shud stop interfering wid elected govts and respect democracy (sic)".
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Shyam Jaju, BJP's in-charge of Uttarakhand, said Congress will lose in the floor test claiming that a majority of MLAs are with his party.
Jaju defended the imposition of President' rule and said the party was hopeful that the Supreme Court, where the Centre will tomorrow an appeal against the High Court order, will stay the judgement.
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Reacting to the High Court verdict on Uttarakhand, former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee today said President's Rule is not beyond judicial review.
"President can be wrong and Central government can be wrong. The court has jurisdiction to enquire into imposition of President's Rule. President's Rule is not beyond judicial review," Sorabjee said.
"I must congratulate Abhishek Manu Singhvi for the arguments presented before the court. At the nightfall of the day, the appeal by the government is certain. See what happens when the appeal is filed," he said.
