This refers to the article, “Uttarakhand episode and some questions” (May 13) by Kalyani Shankar. The writer has raised some pertinent questions. First, it was a hasty decision on the part of the Union Government to impose President’s Rule shortly before the floor test was to take place. They could have waited and in all probability, the result would have been different. Second, the Congress must not feel elated and look back into history when it had imposed President’s Rule in a number of States arbitrarily, even when the party in power had a majority in the House.
President’s Rule in four States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, was most illegal and unfortunate while the crisis was limited to Uttar Pradesh alone in December 1992. The same happened in Kerala in 1959 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. The arbitrary use of Article 356 should have ended long ago. It did not, but must now.