Justifying the imposition of President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday alleged that the rules set by the Constitution were being violated by the Congress regime under the leadership of Harish Rawat in the hill state.
Jaitely told ANI that the Union Cabinet took the decision with the consent of the President following Section 356 of the Indian Constitution which elaborates ‘provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in the state’.
“Yesterday, a meeting of Union Cabinet was held where a detailed discussion over the Uttarakhand political crisis took place. After which we informed the President that provision of the Constitution was being violated and that the assembly there should be held under animated suspension and an inquiry under Section 356 should be done. Many people expressed their views in this regard… I believe Section 356 cannot be used in a better situation,” he said.
“From the past nine days, the Uttarakhand Government has been violating all rules set by the Constitution. Government is formed through majority, bills are passed through majority but wonders happened in the Uttarakhand Assembly where bill was passed without the consent of majority,” he added.
The Finance Minister further said there is one more grave problem, which is still persisting, which is when the Appropriation Bill failed in Uttarakhand no expenses can be taken care of as this Bill is the key to allocation of public funds in the state.
“It has never happened in the history of Independent India that the budget and appropriation bill was not passed in a state. In such situation after Section 356, under Section 397, the Centre with the help of President has to come up with provisions so that from 1st April Uttarakhand can access its fund,” he said.
Jaitley further accused the Congress government of misleading the assembly.
“The Governor of the state asked the Chief Minister to prove his majority in two-three days but the Chief Minister said that he will call the assembly on 28th, why so late so that he wanted to use this time to lure his party inmates and for horse trading,” he said.
After almost seven days of verbal battle between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the political crisis in Uttarakhand, President’s rule was imposed in the hill state on Sunday.
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. (ANI)