Stung by the Supreme Court order on Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP on Wednesday said the ruling raised question whether it strengthened democratic spirit or weakened it and went on to describe the judgment as “weird” decision. On the other hand, law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad maintained that “a detailed response” from the Government would come after “a structured examination” of the judgment.
Within hours of the court order, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad discussed with the Attorney General the legal implications of the SC order. In its response, the BJP maintained that the verdict was not a setback to the party, but wondered whether it would strengthen the democracy.
“This is a very strange order and that is why it is being studied. The person who has the majority, who is running the Government presently, is being asked to be in the Opposition,” said BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma at a Press conference.
Sharma said the political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh was a result of Congress’ internal fight and the corruption charges against its State Government, and that the BJP supported the new Government only from outside.
The party targeted the Congress after its vice-president Rahul Gandhi took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Gandhi thanked the court for “explaining” to Modi what democracy is.
“What happened in Arunachal was an outcome of internal fight within the Congress. Its Government was reduced to minority after a faction within the party rebelled. We only supported the faction’s bid for power from the outside. The Congress should not blame us for its internal problems.
“Rahul Gandhi is talking about democracy but he should know that past Congress Governments have made a century of the use of Article 356 (of the Constitution) to dismiss State Governments,” Sharma said.
Answering questions on the SC’s ruling, Ravi Shankar Prasad at a briefing on the Cabinet meeting said that his Government will do a “structured examination” of the order restoring the dismissed Congress Government in Arunachal Pradesh and its implications before making a detailed response.