The Congress and the BJP on Tuesday sparred in the lok Sabha over the imposition of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
leader of Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue during Zero Hour blaming the Modi Government for undemocratic ways to destablise the elected Congress Governments. Home Minister Rajnath Singh countered that it was the Congress which dismissed the State Governments more than 100 times and the crisis in Arunachal and Uttarakhand was generated due to internal bickering in the Congress.
Congress members staged a walkout even as Singh said the “internal crisis” of Congress was responsible for the controversial developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and that “a boat is bound to sink if it has a hole” in an apparent reference to the opposition party.
Raising the issue, Kharge said that on the one hand, the Modi Government was celebrating the 125th birthday of BR Ambedkar and on the other hand, it was “murdering” democracy by toppling popular Governments. Speeches of Kharge and Singh were often disrupted by the opposition. At one point, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan lost cool with Congress MPs, who were agitated on cutting short Kharge’s speech.
“You have decided to execute your ‘Congress-mukt’ slogan by any means. Wherever you get a chance, you destabilise Governments and work to replace them with yours. You did so in Uttarakhand and Arunachal and tried in Manipur and Himachal Pradesh too. This is good for niether public nor Constitution,” said Kharge.
“We thank the Supreme Court for upholding the Constitution. Its order is historic and will be written in golden letters. You don’t have numbers but you want to grab power by the back door. It has become your nature. Democracy is being repressed, murdered,” he said.
Responding to the charge, the Home Minister said the Congress Governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh fell due to the opposition by its own MlAs and BJP had nothing to do with what happened in the two States, Singh said, adding “if any party has this very old habit of toppling popular Governments, then it is Congress”.
While attacking Congress, he said its Governments at the Centre had toppled Governments in States 105 times. “BJP had nothing to do with it. It was an outcome of your internal crisis. Nine Congress MlAs opposed their own Government on the floor of the Uttarakhand Assembly. In Arunachal, over two/thirds of them defected. If your boat has a hole, then it is bound to sink if you put it in water. Why blame water for it,” he said amidst a walkout by Congress MPs.