New Delhi: Hitting out at the Centre over the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, Congress today 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.
Senior party leader Kapil Sibal said 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.
PTI