Harish Rawat, ousted from his chair of the Chief Minister by the March 27 Presidential proclamation, has hailed the ruling of the High Court delivered on Thursday, ordering floor test on April 29. He also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Visibly relieved, he said he was leaving the bitter experiences he had undergone from March 18 to April 21 behind while hoping that the Centre too would reciprocate adequately by speeding the development projects his Government had envisaged.
Expressing gratitude towards the people who had supported him through his trials and tribulations, he said their support had steeled his resolve to fight against the anti-democratic power and for the power that represents secularism and commitment to Constitution.
“The Centre has inflicted four wounds which would not heal too soon. First, they abetted defection; second, they toppled the government by using money and power; third- they scuttled the people-friendly budget through ordinance and fourth, they chose the time to execute their ill-conceived design when development activities were going on in full swing,” Rawat said.
“It is a pity that the Centre had delayed development. If they had not scuttled the development-driven budget development process would have been expedited. The action has driven the people further from the BJP,” he said.
He said that he would try to understand the deeper crux of the message which the High Court has sent home through its landmark order. “However, I am convinced that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi would seek to shed the acrimony-tinged past and act on his much-vaunted vow to work in the spirit of cooperative federalism,” he said.
Quizzed over Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), the front of six non- BJP and non-Congress MlAs that had lent support to his government all through, Rawat said that
PDF had stayed with them like a rock when the Government had been targeted by the anti democratic and anti- development forces. “I am grateful to them to help us tide over the nightmare,” he said.
Harish Rawat was accompanied by a score of senior leaders like Indira Hridayesh, Mantri Prasad Naithani, Dinesh Aggarwal, Heera Singh Bisht, Rajkumar, Sarita Arya and Madan Singh Bisht during the media interaction.