Standoff over U’khand rocks RS again
NEW DELHI: The Uttarakhand crisis rocked Rajya Sabha for a second day on Tuesday, with agitated Congress members demanding a discussion on the dismissal of the Harish Rawat government.
The House witnessed several adjournments before proceedings were terminated for the day, amid Congress MPs storming the well and shouting slogans against the government for dismissing a democratically-elected government.
The turmoil in the upper House came a day ahead of Supreme Court’s hearing of the Centre’s petition challenging an Uttarakhand high court verdict reinstating the Rawat government and asking him to prove his government’s majority in the assembly on April 29.
The Congress took up the issue soon after five new members took oath, with protesting MPs rushing to the well following the Centre’s rejection of their demand for a discussion. The government put up a spirited defence with finance minister Arun Jaitley asserting there was a “real breakdown of constitutional machinery” in the state.
He said it had never happened in the history of independent India that a presiding officer of an assembly had converted majority into minority and vice-versa.
Reiterating what he said on Monday, Jaitley said discussion would take place when the proclamation for President’s rule is placed before the House.
“There is no procedure of having pre-proclamation discussion,” he said. Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Pramod Tiwari and SP’s Naresh Agarwal had given notices seeking suspension of business to take up the discussion. BSP leader Mayawati supported their demand.
The Congress demanded expunction of Jaitley’s statements about the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the context of the speaker’s action, calling it tantamount to questioning his decision. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the Centre of “dual standards.” He said wherever the BJP is in majority, the speaker’s ruling is considered the final word, but the party does not extend the same courtesy to speakers in other assemblies.