This refers to the editorial, “Harish Rawat's moment” (May 12). The outcome of the Uttarakhand crisis, though an embarrassment for the Modi Government, was not surprising at all. It was only due to the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party that the Congress won the floor test. Both the BJP and the Congress had set their managers to woo BSP chief Mayawati, but it was unfortunate that the BJP overlooked Mayawati's political compulsions and thought it could browbeat her with the carrot-and-stick approach.
Mayawati is in the thick of preparations for next year's crucial Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, which she hopes to win in a big way with the support of the Muslims. There was no way she could have supported the BJP in neighbouring Uttarakhand. It's a no-brainer. Only the BJP could have thought otherwise. Uttarakhand is thus a reminder to all the protagonists involved to take corrective and preventive action. Orderly constitutionalism also calls for a minimal possible recourse to Article 356.