Uttarakhand BJP cadre blame Centre, party brass for crisis
Uttarakhand BJP cadre blame Centre, party brass for crisis
The constitutional crisis in Uttarakhand seems to have divided the saffron house, with the BJP cadre in the hill state miffed over the central leadership’s move to support Congress rebel candidates and impose President’s Rule in the hill state in a “haste”. BJP cadres are also worried that the Uttarakhand high court’s “adverse comments” against the Centre’s decision to impose President’s Rule will only add to the party’s woes. Some feel that the party’s central leadership was trying to do a Bihar in Uttarakhand and that it would boomerang on the party. Before the Bihar election, the BJP had extended support to Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had become a rebel and was creating trouble for Mr Nitish Kumar.
[The Uttarakhand high court, in a veiled warning to the Centre, said it hoped it would not “provoke” the court by revoking the Central Rule in the state now and making clear the decision is open to judicial review as even the President can go wrong, PTI reports. “There is no king or absolutism. Howsoever high you are, the law is above you. Legitimacy of relevant inference drawn from the material that is placed before the President is open to judicial review,” a bench of Chief Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice V.K. Bist said. “We hope they will not provoke us” till a verdict is delivered on the petition challenging its imposition, the bench said. The bench made the observations after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised the apprehension that President’s Rule might be revoked before verdict is pronounced or even reserved.
[Referring to the NDA government’s argument that the President took the decision to impose Article 356 of the Constitution in his “political wisdom”, the bench observed, “People can go wrong, be it the President or the judges.” This observation came after the Centre contended that the President’s understanding of the material before him would be different from that of the court. The government’s contention came after the bench said that from the reports sent by the governor to the President, regarding the situation in the state, “what we have understood is that everything was processing towards a floor test on March 28.”]
Feedback reaching the BJP central leadership, sources disclosed, shows that both the Central government and the saffron leadership are being blamed for creating the constitutional crisis in the state. A majority section within the BJP’s state unit is of the view that the party should have proved its “credibility” during the Assembly elections and not by creating “political chaos” in the state.
BJP leader in charge of Uttarakhand affairs Shyam Jaju on Wednesday held a meeting with party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and senior leaders Satpal Maharaj and B.S. Koshiyari. The BJP leadership has been claiming that it has the required numbers to form the next government in the state.
While hearing arguments on ousted chief minister Harish Rawat’s petition challenging President’s Rule in the state and other related petitions, the Uttarakhand high court had on Tuesday rapped the Centre for “introducing chaos” in the state and also questioned whether the Centre was going to look with a “magnifying lens” for an “opportunity” in state Assemblies to “impose” President’s Rule. The bench of Chief Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice V.K. Bist also asked the Union government why it was “concerned” about the disqualification of nine Congress MLAs.
Indicating that it will wait for the court’s judgement before making any move in the state, Mr Vijayvargiya said, “We have a majority in the state Assembly, (but) we have not thought about it. May be after the court is done with the case.” The senior BJP leader was asked whether the BJP would move to form government in the hill state. Also, the Central government will have to seek parliamentary ratification for President’s Rule in this session, which resumes next week. The BJP-led NDA is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha and, in all likelihood, the Upper House will reject it. However, if the state has a new government before the Parliament session ends on May 13, the Central government could be saved from the embarrassment of the Upper House rejecting the bid to ratify the imposition of President’s Rule.
