JOIN USThe Congress on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying those trampling democratic norms “stand defeated”.
Following the apex court verdict, the Congress demanded the immediate removal of Arunachal Pradesh Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa. Rajkhowa was also reprimanded by the court for “unconstitutional” action of advancing the session of the state Assembly.
“Those who trampled upon Constitutional propriety and democratic norms have been defeated today,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a statement here.Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi also took a dig at Modi.
“Thank you Supreme Court for explaining to the Prime Minister what democracy is,” he posted on Twitter.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who represented Tuki, sought an apology from the Union ministers who were involved in the decision to impose President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh.
Want dissidents back
Reinstated as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Nabam Tuki now has the onerous task of proving a majority in the 60-member state Assembly.
More than half the Congress MLAs had rebelled against Tuki when his detractor Kalikho Pul was sworn in as chief minister on February 19, within hours of the revocation of President’s Rule in the state.
Tuki, who enjoyed the support of 47 MLAs in the Assembly after winning a second term in office in April 2014, found himself as the leader of the opposition in February, with the Congress numbers reduced to 15. The effective strength of the Assembly was reduced to 58 as two Congress MLAs had quit in September 2015.
“Kalikho Pul is now a Congress MLA. I have appealed to all (rebel) MLAs to return to the Congress,” Tuki told DH.