Reacting sharply to the Opposition charge that he rushed to occupy the CM chair before the High Court, which ordered his reinstatement, issued the hard copy of the order, former CM Harish Rawat said on Saturday that he was fully justified against the backdrop of BJP moving Supreme Court on the issue without having a copy of the High Court order in its possession.
Notably, State BJP president Ajay Bhatt had torn into Rawat on Friday, saying that he had reduced himself to ridicule by occupying the CM’s chair, presided over hurriedly called Cabinet meetings and took some populist decisions even before the President’s Rule was formally withdrawn.
Defending himself, Rawat said that that the court making the pronouncement in the open court, the order became effective immediately. “There is thus nothing wrong for me to act on the court’s order. Besides, I took decisions on matters which begged prompt attention like the reemployment of the guest teachers, formation of a committee to reduce the circle rate and raising the pension amounts for the beneficiaries like the statehood activists , elderly, widows and specially-abled. Besides, we decided to rename Rispana Chowk after the deceased State police horse Shaktiman aside from deciding to have classes conducted in two shifts in the Government colleges and sanctioning `5 crore to each district to ensure drinking water availability during the summer months,” he said.
“We took some other decisions,” he continued. “We have decided to give ownership to the slum dwellers. We have approved financial approval for the under construction international sports complex in Haldwani. We have also cleared decks for the appointment of 92 visiting lecturers. We have decided to renovate the cricket stadium with state resources. We have included Ratth College and lal Bahadur Shashtri College in the grant list,” Rawat said.
He dared BJP leaders to say that these decisions were wrong. “I would not hesitate to court ridicule and abuse if it is for the welfare of the State. If I get half an hour or less I would venture to work for the public weal,” he declared.
The ex-CM ripped into BJP, saying that the saffron party had committed the same impropriety by approaching the Supreme without having the copy of the High Court order. “They did so because they thought that there was nothing wrong in it. The same applies to me,” he said.
He said he had asked for MlAs’ protection from the Governor in view of the BJP threatening Congress and PDF MlAs. He refuted the BJP claim of garnering a majority to form a Government, saying that he was throwing a dare to them to prove its majority in the House.