Congress to launch ‘Save Democracy’ yatra in Uttarakhand

The Congress has decided to take out a “Save Democracy” padyatra in the constituencies of its rebel MLAs in Uttarakhand from Saturday to expose them.

The first padyatra will be in Harak Singh Rawat’s constituency, Rudraprayag, which will be followed by another just a day later in Shailarani Rawat’s constituency, Kedarnath, on April 3.

“Some of those who had become MLAs on a Congress ticket have backstabbed the party, letting down not just the party but also the people of the state... Congress will launch a padyatra in the constituencies of these rebels tomorrow to expose them and will also take feedback from people during the campaign,” Pradesh Congress president Kishore Upadhyay said in Dehradun.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “Can there be two Budgets, one passed by the state Assembly and the other promulgated through an ordinance by the Central government ... How can the central government be the arbiter of proceedings in a Vidhan Sabha The Centre’s move is unconstitutional,” Mr Tewari said.

Striking a similar note, the party’s chief spokesperson, Mr Randeep Surjewala, said the Uttarakhand Assembly “constitutionally passed” the Appropriation Bill, reflecting the people’s aspirations. “It is the Modi government’s sinister conspiracy to obstruct and annul implementation of public welfare schemes and programmes, funds for which were allotted in the Budget,” he alleged.

He termed the move as “legislative dishonesty” by the BJP government to deny the “genuine developmental aspirations” of the people of Uttarakhand, and claimed this was done first by proroguing Parliament and then “following the ordinance route to perpetuate illegalities”.